Pakistan players set to play entire BBL season: CA CEO

Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive officer Todd Greenberg has confirmed that Pakistan players will remain available for the full duration of the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) 15.

The BBL 15 has attracted several first-choice Pakistan cricketers, including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali.

However, there had been uncertainty over their availability due to Pakistan’s scheduled T20I tour of Sri Lanka in early January.

Speaking to reporters on the morning of the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, Greenberg said Cricket Australia had received clear assurances regarding the availability of Pakistan players throughout the competition.

“We’ve been told that if they’ve been signed by the BBL, they’ll play [the whole BBL],” Greenberg said.

He also confirmed that plans for Australia’s T20I tour of Pakistan ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 are moving forward.

According to Greenberg, CA, along with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, has already sent representatives to Pakistan to conduct a pre-tour security assessment.

“We’ve just sent a couple of people to Pakistan to do a pre-tour for the T20I games in February,” he said.

“We’re going to have some conversations with the players after the Ashes series and explain to them how that will work with security. But I went there with them in 2022, and it was an amazing experience.”

Todd Greenberg added that the three-match ODI leg of Australia’s tour of Pakistan, which forms part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), will be shifted to June.

The move will allow the series to be played after the conclusion of both the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The rescheduled window will also align with Australia’s limited-overs tour of Bangladesh, which includes three ODIs and three T20Is in the same month.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s tour of Australia later in the year will mark a historic return of Test cricket to the Top End. Scheduled for August, the series will see Mackay host its first-ever Test match, and the region’s first since 2004.