Australia have informed that they expect a near full-strength squad to tour Pakistan with only a few players still concerned with security.
Cricket Australia’s board is expected to approve its first tour to the country in 24 years on Friday, satisfied with the security checks they did earlier on.
There were speculations as recently as last week that there was trepidation from some players over the trip, after recent reports suggested rise in terror attacks.
But captain Pat Cummins on Thursday infomred most players were feeling safe with the tour going ahead, while understanding and accepting a few may not approve for the tour.
Cummins statement ahead of the upcoming Pakistan tour
“I think we’ll get close to a full-strength squad,” Cummins said. “There is still a little bit of work to do. We have received a lot of information and it has been great. All the pre-tour security and biosecurity work has been done and it’s been fantastic. There are a couple of players still keen to get a bit more information but everyone is really pumped and feeling relatively comfortable. If anyone doesn’t make the tour it is absolutely okay, we will back them for sure.”
Australia’s players are scheduled to fly to Pakistan in a little over three weeks, ahead of the first Test in Karachi from March 3. Matches are scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore provided CA approves of the current schedule.
No idea of the conditions we will play in – Cummins
The tour will mark Australia’s first overseas Test since 2019 and is one three subcontinent tour that form their away series in the current World Test Championship cycle. They will tour Sri Lanka in the middle of the year and then India in early 2023.
“I thought about it yesterday for the first time and thought that will be a tough decision,” Cummins said. “They usually have a way of working themselves out. We’ll have a squad of 15 who did really well in the Ashes. Crystal ball, I have no idea. I don’t even know what the wickets are going to look like over there.”
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