Bangladesh Cricket postpones national U-19 cricket team's tour to Pakistan

Pakistan cricket seems to have suffered yet another setback as the Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to postpone a tour of its national Under-19 team to Pakistan.

The Bangladesh U-19 team was scheduled to tour Pakistan from later this month but a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said that they have got a request from their counterpart to postpone the series.

The official declined to give reasons for the BCB's decision but said the series could be played at a later date this year.

Sources in the board said the BCB's request could stem from security concerns about playing in Pakistan in present situation, although the Pakistan Football Federation hosted the Bangladesh team for a World Cup qualifying match in Lahore on Sunday.

The Bangladesh football officials had also initially asked the sport's world governing body to move their World Cup qualifying match against Pakistan from Lahore but their request was rejected despite their security concerns.

Bangladesh football team coach was fired for refusing to go to Pakistan.

Relations between the Pakistan and Bangladesh boards have not been at their best in recent times, particularly after BCB cancelled a tour by the Pakistan team to Bangladesh immediately after the militants attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March, 2009.

Later in a tit for tat response, Pakistan also sat on an invitation to play a series of one-day matches in Bangladesh.

Relations soured further when Pakistan accused Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka for not supporting it when the ICC decided to move the 2011 World Cup matches out of Pakistan on security grounds.

No foreign teams have toured Pakistan since March, 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver and wounding five Sri Lankan players.

Since then the only foreign team to have visited Pakistan was Afghanistan, who played a One-day series against the Pakistan 'A' side recently.

The PCB official said the tour by the Bangladesh U-19 team had been finalised in a bid to allow junior players to prepare for next year's ICC youth World Cup.