By IANS
Melbourne : Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination will not affect Australia’s tour of that country next year, the Australian cricket board has said.
Bhutto, 54, was assassinated soon after addressing a public rally in Rawalpindi Thursday evening.
“It’s an appalling tragedy and we only hope that the civil situation in Pakistan can improve. But it has no impact over cricket from a touring point of view,” Cricket Australia (CA) spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying here by the Age Friday.
Australia are scheduled to play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan in March and April.
Young added that CA or the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) would not take a decision on whether the tour would go ahead for at least a month or two.
“We will make our decision in late January or February, closer to the proposed dates,” he said.
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998 as their 2002 tour was rescheduled due to security concerns.
Those three Tests were played at neutral venues Sharjah and Sri Lanka.