Lawson plays down security concerns

Geoff Lawson arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday night and said the situation in Pakistan after next month's elections and a security assessment will decide whether or not the Australia tour will go on as scheduled in March.

Lawson told reporters at the National Stadium in Karachi that he felt secure in the country despite news of a bomb attack in Lahore, where he is based, on Thursday which killed over 20 people

"I don't know much about the blast because I am here in Karachi. I do feel safe in Pakistan and have expressed the same to some of the Australian players and informally to Cricket Australia (CA), but they make their own decisions," Lawson said.

The latest attack was bound to raise further doubts over the tour. Several players raised security fears in Pakistan but CA maintain that the fate of the tour would only be decided after the security assessment. CA is due to send a security delegation to Pakistan after the elections on February 18.

"The Australians want to see what state the nation is after the elections. They do their own thorough investigation and they make careful judgments because they know the importance of the series and their relationship. I sincerely hope that it takes place but it's a long way off."

Lawson maintained that Australia could be beaten, as evidenced by the fight India gave them in the second Test in Sydney recently. "Australia are a good side but India went very close in Sydney and played well and I think Australia are certainly beatable.

"We have two months to plan specifically for the Australian team and hope to address all the shortcomings we had in the series against India," Lawson said. Pakistan lost both the ODI series and the Test series against India, on top of similar losses to South Africa in October.

"It was a close series in India. We didn't have a lot of luck as we couldn't put scores on the board in the first Test and then suffered injuries and health problems in the last two Tests," Lawson said.

Lawson has also asked the board to hire a sports psychologist for the team. "I have made some recommendations to the Pakistan Cricket Board and one of them is having a sports psychologist with the team.

"I agree it is the job of the coach to make the team work," said Lawson after returning from holiday in Australia. "I am in charge but I need professional help as well to assist me.

Lawson also had encouraging words for Shoaib Akhtar, who was troubled by illness and injury throughout the India series. Akhtar took six wickets in Pakistan's defeat in the first Test before playing with a chest infection in the drawn second Test at Calcutta. He also hurt his back in the final Test at Bangalore.

"To be honest when he was fit and bowled well he was our best bowler and he was the one who looked like getting wickets.

"Akhtar fell ill and then had back trouble. I would not like to think he has played his last Test and he can be a vital player if he is fit and bowls well against Australia. I think he concentrated hard in India and his attitude was terrific."

Pakistan are preparing to face Zimbabwe for a five-match ODI series and he said he would not be happy with anything other than a whitewash. "With due respect to them, I think if we play to our potential we must beat them 5-0 and then get ready for Australia.

"We have to make sure that everyone is fit and healthy and at the top of their game. We have couple of months to do that, and we have to plan very specifically."