KEY POINTS:
Australia have cancelled their cricket tour to Pakistan over security fears, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said today.
"I can confirm they have conveyed to us that they have cancelled the tour. We are disappointed and we are issuing a policy statement soon," PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Nagmi said.
Cricket Australia has called a media conference for 7.30pm (NZ time) today where chief executive James Sutherland is expected to detail the situation.
The timing of the decision follows a lethal bombing in the Pakistan city of Lahore today.
The city's police chief said about a dozen people had been killed and several injured in a blast at the office of Pakistan's federal investigation agency.
Australian players have expressed their reservations over the security situation in Pakistan following a spate of violence including suicide bombings.
Today's explosion comes one week after two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a prestigious naval college in Lahore, killing at least five people and injuring 19, officials said.
Pakistan has been rocked by six major blasts since elections on February 18, posing a serious challenge to an incoming coalition government led by the parties of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and former premier Nawaz Sharif.
The proposed tour had already been compressed to a month starting on March 29 and the idea of playing at a neutral venue has been floated after Australia's tour was relocated to Colombo and Sharjah in 2002.
But PCB officials have voiced their opposition to moving the tour outside of the Asian nation because of its long-term impact on cricket in the country.
Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998 and the PCB has promised to provide extra security for the Australian players.
- AAP
