A source said Shane Watson “visited Pakistan earlier this year and his feedback would be important in the PCB’s efforts to have Australia play in Pakistan in 2022”
Image courtesy of: Pakistan Super League
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is hoping to use legendary all-rounder Shane Watson to convince Australia to tour the country in the future.
Watson is one of the few Australian players that have visited the country in the past few years.
The 38-year-old even travelled to Karachi in March, where he helped the Quetta Gladiators win the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Watson was the top run-scorer in this year’s PSL with 430 runs in 12 matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 43 and a strike-rate of 143.81.
With Watson having recently been appointed as the president of Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), he is set to meet PCB CEO Wasim Khan in Melbourne this month.
“Watson visited Pakistan earlier this year and his feedback would be important in the PCB’s efforts to have Australia play in Pakistan in 2022,” a source told Geo News.
Australia have not toured Pakistan since playing a three-Test series in the nation in October 1998.
A few days ago, Watson described the security in Pakistan for the PSL as “phenomenal”.
“The security was phenomenal. It was one of the safest places to be in the world with that kind of security around. I am really looking forward to playing there again,” he said.
He also expressed his eagerness to play in next year’s PSL, which will be held entirely in Pakistan.
“I had an awesome time in Karachi when I was there for a week during the [PSL] final,” he said. “It was one of the highlights of my career to be able to play in Karachi. To be involved with winning the tournament for [the] Quetta Gladiators, it was an awesome time of my life.”
Test cricket will be returning to Pakistan for the first time in more than a decade after Sri Lanka agreed to play a two-Test series in the country in December. The two matches will be held in Rawalpindi from December 11 to 15 and Karachi from December 19 to 23.