South Africa have reversed their decision to cancel a tour of Pakistan over security fears after the hosts offered a revised itinerary, the United Cricket Board of South Africa said on Tuesday.
"It has been decided in principle that the tour will go ahead," UCBSA spokesman Moabi Litheko said.
The Pakistan tour had been given a final go-ahead last week, but the UCBSA then decided to call it off because of a bomb blast in Karachi on Friday.
South Africa had been particularly concerned about matches scheduled for Karachi and Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan, following consultation with safety and security consultants and South Africa's High Commissioner in Islamabad.
Litheko said Tuesday's decision was taken at a meeting of the management committee of Cricket South Africa (CSA) in Johannesburg. South Africa captain Graeme Smith and coach Eric Simons also attended the meeting.
South Africa had initially been scheduled to play three one-day internationals and three Tests, at Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi, between September 26 and October 27, but the revised itinerary drops one of the Tests.
"That will be thrashed out in the next day or so," UCBSA media manager Gerald de Kock said.
South Africa will now tour Pakistan from October 1-28 to play two Tests and five one-day internationals, PCB sources told Reuters in Karachi.
FIVE ONE-DAYERS
The Pakistan board proposes that the five one-dayers will be staged before the two Tests, which are to be played at Lahore and Faisalabad.
The one-day games will be held in Lahore (two), Rawalpindi (two) and Faisalabad (one).
"It is satisfying that the South Africans are coming, as far as the tour is concerned," PCB chairman Tauqir Zia told Reuters in Karachi. "But I am not happy with the venues.
"I desperately wanted Karachi and Peshawar to be included in the revised tour itinerary.
"It has been a very difficult decision for the Board and me to ignore these two main venues, which recently hosted international matches against Bangladesh," he added.
The South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) said it was satisfied with the UCB's handling of the issue.
"There has been a great deal of consultation between the UCB, the players and the Pakistanis," SACA secretary Errol Stewart said.
"It has been carefully thought through, and in deciding to allow the tour to go ahead the UCB would have satisfied themselves about the state of play in Pakistan."
DAMAGES CLAIM
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had said it would claim damages of approximately $7 million from the UCBSA if it did not reverse its decision to cancel the tour.
"The tour is confirmed and there are no problems with that," PCB chief executive Rameez Raja said. "But we are in the process of finalising the itinerary."
The CSA said the resolution to proceed with the tour was subject to the board remaining satisfied with the security arrangements. It said it had the right to reverse its decision if the level of risk deteriorated to an unacceptable level.
Pakistan has been a no-go zone for most cricketing nations since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
In May 2002, a suicide bomb outside a Karachi hotel where the New Zealand team were staying prompted a cancellation of the tour and India called off a tour in April this year.
