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George Bailey hints no Australian cricketer is reluctant about touring Pakistan
George Bailey
- Australia are set to tour Pakistan in February
- It was would be Australia's first tour of Pakistan since 1998
- The series includes 3 Tests, 3 ODIs and a T20I
No Australian cricketer is reluctant about touring Pakistan as Cricket Australia is "well down the track" in finalising the Test squad.
Australia's national selector George Bailey has said that security plans are "very, very robust and very, very thorough" after multiple briefings for what would be the first Australian tour of Pakistan since Mark Taylor's men visited in 1998.
"I believe the boards are still working through some of the minor details around that tour, so once that gets the formal tick of approval then we'll announce the squad post that, but we're reasonably well down the track," Bailey told reporters on Tuesday, according to cricket.com.au.
Keeping in mind the players that helped Australia thrash England 4-0 in the Ashes, the squad for the Pakistan tour will be picked. Selectors are set to rest Jhye Richardson after the emergence of Scott Boland as a reliable partner to the team's regular pace attack.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is expected to return to the squad after he was rested from next month's home series against Sri Lanka, as was opening batsman David Warner.
An 11-day break after the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) would see Shield cricket resuming about Feb. 9. It is still unclear how much domestic cricket would have happened for the selectors to see and decide on the Test squad for the away series against Pakistan. Western Australia border situation has been further complicating matters.
As of now, at least two Shield rounds would have taken place before the Australian squad would likely depart in the last week of February ahead of a Test series scheduled to begin on March 3 in Karachi.
"Whether we need to (see any Shield cricket) or not, I'm not entirely sure what opportunity we will get," Bailey said today.
"But the one thing that I think we have to be really just okay with is that we've got to accept what we get at the moment and be flexible. I think one of the great things and possibly one of the reasons the players performed so well in the Ashes was there were a number of players who got a good bank of Shield cricket in prior to that series.
"Whether it's for Pakistan or not, you'd certainly hope that there is an opportunity for some Shield cricket at some stage just because of the competition and to continue to see guys improving and getting the opportunity to show their wares," the national selector further added.
Australia and Pakistan are set to lock horns in three Tests, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and a lone Twenty20 International (T20I). The matches are scheduled to be played across three cities: Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi.
