Australia intervenes to return to Pakistan for Test cricket

It has been more than two decades since Australia toured Pakistan but the wheels are in motion for that streak to be snapped in the next three years.

According to reports, that’s the aim of both Cricket Australia and the Pakistan Cricket Board, whose chief executive Wasim Khan is in Australia hoping to convince the Australian players the Asian nation is once again safe to host regular international cricket.

Wasim Khan is keen for an Australia A side to visit Pakistan before the Test sides are due to meet again away from Australia soil in early 2022, according to the ICC Future Tours Program.

“A lot of these things are baby steps. We need discuss timings of a potential ‘A’ tour, the length of the tours and where it’s played,” Wasim Khan said.

“It gives us an opportunity to close a gap a little bit because we have two-and-a-half years before Australia are in Pakistan.

“Kevin Roberts (CA chief executive) and Sean Carroll (CA Head of Security) came out to Pakistan just to have a look and feel and understand the landscape in Pakistan around security.

“Kevin and I acknowledged that’s what we want together over that period of time because CA is committed to see sustainable cricket back in Pakistan. We’ll work towards with that.”

“We’ve got a population of 220 million passionate cricket fans,” Khan said.

“For Test cricket to come back after such a long period is a huge lift for the whole country, not just for cricket.”

We need it to sustain us both financially and from a cricket perspective, said Wasim Khan.