Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has embarked on a mission to convince Australian and New Zealand cricketers that it's safe to tour Pakistan for next month's Champions Trophy limited-overs tournament. Lawson left for Australia late Monday night on a trip the Pakistan Cricket Board said was organized at the request of International Cricket Council. “The ICC sent us a request 10 days ago and said they would fund Lawson's around 12 days trip to Australia and New Zealand,” Pakistan Cricket Board communications director Mansur Sohail told the AP on Tuesday. “It is a very logical thing to do and hopefully it will assuage concerns of leading players and make up their minds to come here,” Sohail said. Leading players from Australia and New Zealand, including Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds, have expressed their reservations over the security situation in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. An ICC security task force – led by chief executive Haroon Logart – met with officials from Pakistan's Interior Ministry on Monday in Islamabad before leaving for Lahore, one of the tournament host cities. Later Tuesday they were scheduled to visit the other Champions Trophy venue, Karachi's National Stadium. “I am quite impressed with the level of security in place,” Logart said Tuesday, before adding: “It is another matter to satisfy and improve the confidence of key players.” Lawson will join the task force later this week when the six-member ICC delegation visits Australia and New Zealand. England captain Kevin Pietersen has also raised concerns over touring Pakistan and Logart said the ICC task force will also be visiting England. The eight-nation Champions Trophy, featuring defending champion Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, will now be staged from Sept. 12-28. “There were some advices from the security consultants that it might be better not to start the competition from Sept. 11,” Logart said. “We have an awards ceremony on Sept. 10 so it would allow us a day in between.” Rawalpindi has, meanwhile, been dropped as the third city for next month's Champions Trophy, according to a provisional International Cricket Council (ICC) schedule sent to member boards. – AP __
