IRELAND KEEN ON TOURING PAKISTAN

In what could be termed a major boost to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB’s) efforts to regularise the conduct of international cricket matches in the country, Ireland has expressed interest in touring Pakistan for a series in future.

Speaking ahead of Ireland’s historic Test debut against Pakistan in Dublin on Friday, Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom said that his country is open to the possibility of touring Pakistan.

“We’ve seen West Indies’ recent tour which went well. We’ve also seen that some PSL matches were held in Lahore and Karachi and went off well. Before taking any decision we will definitely discuss the situation with ICC security and take input from Pakistan itself, but I can see that in the near future, a tour to Pakistan is possible,” Deutrom was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s Daily Express.

However, the prospect of organising the tour in near future is in doubt considering Pakistan have a packed schedule leading to 2019

ICC World Cup. Their home season this year features an Asia Cup in the UAE, matches against Australia and New Zealand, and the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team will also travel to South Africa.

PCB chairman Najam Sethi, travelling to Dublin for the one-off Test, has also made it clear that organising a tour in the next 12 months is going to be difficult.