Former Australian cricket coach Darren Lehmann has said that Pakistan is a beautiful place to play the game as they passion for cricket is second to none. “I can’t see why we wouldn’t go back if everything is safe, for the good of the game in their country,” he added.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan is hopeful of convincing Australia to return to the country after 24 years with an extensive tour involving Tests and limited-overs matches in 2022, saying: “There is no reason right now Australia won’t be coming”.

A long-awaited resumption of Australian teams playing in Pakistan appeared to move a step closer when Wasim mentioned in a statement confirming a first England tour in 16 years next October that “we also expect Australia to visit Pakistan for their FTP [Future Tours Programme] commitment in early 2022.”

Contacted in Lahore by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Thursday, Wasim said there had been no agreement yet for an Australian return to Pakistan but reported talks with Cricket Australia had been positive. “Our international cricket departments are working together on the schedule for February and March 2022,” he said.

“By then a lot of cricket will have been played in Pakistan.

“There’s been no formal announcement at the moment because there is still a lot of cricket to be played. But all things going well, we’re looking forward to welcoming them in 2022.”

Under the FTP, the international playing calendar, Australia are scheduled to play two Tests, three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 games away to Pakistan. It was forecast last year that an Australian visit to Pakistan, if given the green light, would most likely come in the form of a brief fly-in, fly-out series of white-ball matches but the PCB would like them to stay longer.
“All of those things are being discussed at the moment,” Wasim said. “Ideally, as a PCB we would like them to come for an extended period of time, so we can complete both white and red-ball obligations.”

Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998 when captain Mark Taylor famously compiled 334 not out in the second Test at Peshawar, matching Don Bradman's then Australian record of.

Back then players could use a day off to safely take a minibus trip up the Khyber Pass and peer into Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

While international sides continued touring there until the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009, Australia haven’t been back this century because of security concerns and have instead been hosted by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and in 2010 in England.
The emergence of the country’s own Twenty20 tournament, the Pakistan Super League, since 2015 has aided in reopening it to the cricket world and in the last three years West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have sent international sides there.

South Africa are also due there for Tests and T20s in January followed by New Zealand for white-ball games next September and England for T20 matches.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts visited Pakistan in September 2019 on his way back from Australia's Ashes tour of England and other Australians have played and coached in the PSL, including Shane Watson, Ben Dunk, Chris Lynn, Ben Cutting and the late Dean Jones.

“With all the safety that’s going on behind the scenes ... you would think that we’d be very close to going back," said former Australia coach Darren Lehmann, who played in the 1998 series.

“It’s a beautiful place to go. I really enjoyed my tour there. Their passion for the game is second to none. I can’t see why we wouldn’t go back if everything is safe, for the good of the game in their country."

Aussie spinner Lyon targeting 500 Test wickets

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has lofty plans to join a select few greats to snare 500 Test wickets, with India the next team in his sights.

Lyon, who turned 33 on Friday, currently has 390 scalps, behind only Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563) on the Australian pecking order.

Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan holds the all-time record with 800.

Despite Mitchell Swepson knocking on the door -- and in Australia's 17-man Test squad to face India -- Lyon remains his side's main spin option and he has no plans to relinquish it.

"I still feel I'm getting better and still feel like I've got a lot of cricket to offer Cricket Australia," he said in a Q&A with News Corp. readers late Thursday. "Definitely 500 (wickets) and beyond is on my radar."

He said he felt he was only improving the older he got.

"I think it's a craft we can't afford to rush," he said. "It's a craft you learn and you keep learning and you get better with age."

Lyon will reach the 100-Test milestone against India in Brisbane should he, as expected, play the preceding Tests in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, starting on December 17.

The Adelaide Test will be his first since January due to Covid-19, a vacuum that has only driven his desire to keep going.

"Without being able to play the game that you love so much and not being able to play that regularly, that's driven my passion to get out there and that hunger to perform well again," he said.

"The most I've missed is that pressure that comes along with playing Test cricket. Missing that adrenaline."

With inputs from AFP.