Lawson urges Aussies to visit Pakistan

Geoff Lawson has urged Cricket Australia to send their team to Pakistan as per the revised...

Pakistan team chief coach Geoff Lawson has urged Cricket Australia to send their team to Pakistan as per the revised schedule as the conditions in Pakistan were conducive for the game of cricket.

Talking to reporters here at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Tuesday, Lawson was of the view that they were looking forward to home series against Australia and looked optimistic about the tour. “I believe that Australia is the top team of the world and have been playing cricket but they should come and play against the strong Pakistan team to prove their dominance in cricket,” he added.

The CA has shown their concerns on the security in Pakistan but promised to send a security team to Pakistan in the first week of the March to assess the situation to make a final decision to tour Pakistan. Talking about the ongoing Pentangular Cup 2008, Lawson said that it was providing a good practice to the top players that would help them in the upcoming home series against Australia and termed it a good competition.

Talking about the fast bowling attack, Geoff said that they were happy to see the fast bowlers like M Asif and Umar Gul getting back their fitness and hoped that they would be available to the team. When asked that what will be his plan if the bowlers could not get fit before the series, he replied that they had a good back up for the fast bowlers to play against the visiting team.

When pointed out that Shoaib could get a ban from the PCB disciplinary committee, Geoff said that Shoaib is a good fast bowler and a fit and in-form Shoaib was asset for the team but if he could not play for the team then they would be playing with the back-up bowlers. To a question about he Indian Premier League, the coach said that it was a good ides as the Pakistani players would get more chances to perform and exposure while they would also get handsome financial assistance and would enjoy the Twenty20 games.