South Africa confirm Pakistan tour

After weeks of the now-customary "will-they-won't-they" wranglings, South Africa have confirmed that their tour of Pakistan will take place as planned. Representatives of the UCB, the South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) and the tour party met with security advisors, who have recently returned from Pakistan and were able to address various concerns.

The UCB has emphasised, however, that the tour will not be concluded unless the Pakistan authorities follow their stated security plan to the letter. And though, at present, the risk in Pakistan is at an acceptable level, any escalation in tensions may yet cause the tour to be abandoned.

The President of the UCB, Ray Mali, was present at the meeting with Director Ben van Deventer of the South African Police Services and Bob Nicholls, the UCB's security consultant. He expressed his appreciation to the South African and Pakistan governments for the professional and thorough manner in which they had dealt with the UCB's concerns.

Mr Mali was equally grateful to the team and the players' association for the level of trust they had placed in the UCB. "This is a team of which all South African people can be proud," he said. "We wish them all the best in Pakistan."

"We as a team are aware that we face major challenges on the tour," said South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith. "But we nevertheless intend to give 100% commitment to our country, in what may be difficult circumstances."

Tony Irish, the CEO of SACA, said: "The commitment of the players in circumstances where there had been concerns, has arisen out of the implementation of a consultative process between SACA, the UCBSA and security consultants. The players had placed their trust in the information arising out of that process."

South Africa fly out to Pakistan on Sunday, September 21, where they are due to play three Tests and three ODIs.