Australian cricket chiefs announced Tuesday that they had scrapped their upcoming tour of Pakistan, on the day two bombs tore through Lahore where the team had been due to play. The tour, originally due to begin on March 29, had been in doubt for months amid questions about the level of security they would be assured in Pakistan, which has seen six major blasts since elections nearly a month ago. Cricket Australia (CA) called it a postponement and said it hoped to fix new dates “in the near future.” But it will not be this year, with CA chief executive James Sutherland telling reporters in Melbourne that there were “a couple of windows” in 2009 and 2010 when the tour may be able to proceed. “We wish no loss to Pakistan Cricket Board and look forward to undertaking this tour in the near future,” CA chairman Creagh O'Connor said in a statement after Pakistani officials earlier announced it had been canceled. Sutherland said CA had little choice but to postpone the tour until the security situation in Pakistan “settled down”. He added CA acted on advice from the Australian government and its own advisers. But Pakistan coach and former Australian Test bowler Geoff Lawson was scathing about the decision, saying the dangers of visiting Pakistan had been overstated in the West. “I think the Australians should have come here full steam ahead,” he told Australian Associated Press from Karachi. Lawson was attending a cricket match in Karachi when news of the bombings broke. He is otherwise based in Lahore. Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja - whose house was damaged by one of the blasts in Lahore on Tuesday - said Pakistan cricket would lose out from the cancellation. “It will impact Pakistan cricket in a terrible way,” said Raja. “Pakistan cricket's television rights are up for sale next month and I fear they will be devalued with the current scenario. “Young Pakistani players will also get demotivated by this situation when no team is willing to play here,” he added. But he said that he didn't blame the Australians given Pakistan's current security image abroad. Another former captain, Wasim Akram, backed Australia's decision. “Under the current scenario, Australia is justified to take this decision,” said the retired Wasim. “But I see far-reaching implications for Pakistan cricket, both financially and in sporting terms.” CA and the PCB said in a joint statement that officials from both countries would meet in Dubai next weekend to discuss possible new dates. Minnow Bangladesh later agreed to step into the breach and tour Pakistan in April. “We have accepted Pakistan's proposal to play five one-day matches and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan in April,” Bangladesh Cricket Board official Gazi Ashaf Hossain Lipu said in Dhaka, adding dates remained to be fixed. PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said Pakistan was saddened by the decision. “We are obviously very disappointed... (We) sincerely hope that the tour of Australia to Pakistan can materialize at the earliest opportunity,” he said. __
