Updated at: 2135 PST, Saturday, January 15, 2011
KARACHI: Pakistan needs to convince international teams that it is safe to resume tours to the country, an official of the sport's global governing body told reporters on Friday.
Dave Richardson, the International Cricket Council's (ICC) general manager, said he hopes international cricket will soon return to Pakistan but acknowledged teams will only agree to tour if they are given reassurances over security.
International teams have not toured Pakistan since March 2009 when seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach were injured and eight Pakistanis killed when attackers opened fire and hurled grenades at their team bus in Lahore.
Pakistan blamed the assault on the Taliban, and the national side has since been forced to play its home series at neutral venues.
"We are extremely hopeful that international cricket will return to Pakistan as soon as possible," said Richardson.
"It's a security related issue where Pakistan has to convince teams in particular and the international community in general."
Richardson, who played 42 Tests and 122 one-day internationals for South Africa before taking the ICC post, is in Karachi to watch the final of Pakistan's premier first-class tournament - Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Pakistan had already been a virtual no-go zone for foreign teams since the September 11, 2001 attacks, which put the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and the war against Al-Qaeda.
When asked how far the ICC's Pakistan Task Team had got with a proposed World XI tour of Pakistan, Richardson said, "We have certainly not got to the stage where anyone has said that they want to tour Pakistan."
Richardson said a decision on any possible tour to Pakistan would be made by the country's cricket board.
