Ponting welcomes neutral venues move

Ricky Ponting has hailed the move to stage Pakistan's 'home' Tests against Australia at Lord's and Headingley as a positive development for international cricket. Scheduling and security concerns have conspired to prevent Australia from touring Pakistan for more than a decade, and Ponting expressed relief that the series, which falls under the Future Tours Programme, has been shifted to England.

Pakistan has not hosted an international fixture since the Lahore terror attack on the buses of the Sri Lankan team and ICC officials in March. The PCB have since hosted Australia at the neutral venues of Dubai and Abu Dhabi for a limited overs series, and will play in New Zealand as the home team in a three-Test series later this year.

Pakistan's matches against Australia at Lord's and Headingley have yet to be confirmed by either of the competing boards, however the England and Wales Cricket Board and Marleybone Cricket Club both issued media releases on Friday announcing the move. Ponting said the Australians were enthused at the prospect of returning to England in 2010 to play Pakistan.

"We've been thinking for quite a while we are going to be back here next year," Ponting said. "It's very significant for them (Pakistan). I'm sure they'd rather be playing here than not playing at all. That's exactly the way we feel about it as well.

"Pakistan at the moment is obviously a fairly difficult place to tour for a number of reasons and I think for the betterment of the game around the world, to be able to play Pakistan in neutral venues is something that's going to be great for the game.

"There's no better place than England to play those Test matches. To get another opportunity to play a Test at Lord's is going to be great for me and some of the other younger guys around our side as well. We are looking forward to coming back here."

Pakistan will also host Australia in two Twenty20 internationals at Edgbaston.