Wife talks of Aussie coach's lucky escape

Thilan Samaraweera, who scored a century for Sri Lanka against Pakistan yesterday, is thought to be among the most seriously injured players. Photo / Getty Images

Just moments after three bullets shattered a window next to him on his Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in Lahore, Australian coach Trevor Bayliss was on the phone to his wife Julie in Sydney.

He was shaken but not hurt, he assured her, as she completed her school run in western Sydney.

"He is fine but he did have three bullet holes in the window next to him so it was not his time ... thank goodness!" Julie Bayliss said after receiving the call from her husband just minutes after today's attack.

"He was pretty shaken.

"There were only seven or eight of them that got away with no wounds at all.

"There was a fair bit of shrapnel around but he is fine.

"You try not to think about these things and then they happen."

The terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus made an immediate impact in Australia.

Up to 12 masked gunmen attacked the team's convoy en route to the Gaddafi stadium for the second Test against Pakistan, killing at least eight people and wounding seven team members.

They opened fire on the bus, using rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, triggering a 25-minute gunbattle with security forces.

Mrs Bayliss said the father of two had told her a few details about his terrifying experience.

"There were a couple of bomb blasts before they actually shot the tyres out on the bus and that is when all the players and everyone in the bus hit the floor of the bus," she said.

"Then there was the gunfire through the bus, through the windows and the side of the bus."

Australian umpires Steve Davis and Simon Taufel were also in the convoy but were understood to have not suffered any injuries in the attacks.

Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge said assistant coach, Englishman Paul Farbrace, and star batsman Thilan Samaraweera were kept in hospital although their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

He said captain Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tharanga Paranavithana and Ajantha Mendis suffered minor injuries before Sri Lanka cancelled the rest of the tour.

The attacks have reinforced Pakistan's international status as a pariah state and all but buried any chance of sporting team's touring the troubled nation for some time.

The Australian cricket team hasn't toured Pakistan for more than a decade because of security concerns and that stance has drawn them criticism in the past.

Cricket Australia said Australia's limited-overs series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi starting next month was still on for the moment.

- AAP