Australia confirm first Pakistan tour in 24 years

Australia's men's team will tour Pakistan for the first time in 24 years in March.

The sides will play three Tests, three one-day internationals and one T20 in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Confirmation of the matches comes five months after New Zealand abandoned their tour of Pakistan following a government «security alert».

England also withdrew their men's and women's teams from series that were scheduled to take place last October.

The England men's team will now play seven T20s in Pakistan in September before returning for three Tests in November and December after the next T20 World Cup in Australia.

The three-Test series will form part of the World Test Championship.

The men had been set to make their first trip to Pakistan since 2005 last October, while the women had never before played there.

Cricket Australia (CA) thanked the Pakistan Cricket Board and both governments for «facilitating» this spring's tour.

CA CEO Nick Hockley said confirmation of the tour marked a «historic occasion» which is «important for the global growth and health of the game».

No international cricket was played in Pakistan for six years following an attack on the Sri Lanka team by gunmen in 2009, with the majority of their home matches being held in the United Arab Emirates instead.

Touring teams began to return in 2015 and Pakistan hosted their first home men's Test for 12 years when Sri Lanka travelled there in 2019.

Pakistan toured England in 2020 and 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, and in the first tour in particular agreed to strict bio-secure conditions in order to play.

4-8 March: 1st Test, Rawalpindi

12-16 March: 2nd Test, Karachi

21-25 March: 3rd Test, Lahore

29 March: 1st ODI, Rawalpindi

31 March: 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi

2 April: 3rd