Pakistan players happy to concentrate on cricket

Sydney, June 7: Pakistan's players are trying to put their country's military stand-off with India out of their minds as they prepare for the one-day series against Australia next week, captain Waqar Younis said on Friday.

"We're not really worried at all," Waqar told reporters in Brisbane. "We're here to play cricket and we're just focused on cricket."

Fears of a war between Pakistan and India have grown in recent weeks with both country's massing troops across a tense frontier in Kashmir.

New Zealand cut short their tour of Pakistan in May after a suicide bombing outside the team's hotel in Karachi killed 14 people and Australia are still to decide whether to go ahead with a similar tour later in the year.

Australia officials are pursuing the possibility of shifting the series in Pakistan to a neutral venue such as Morocco or Sharjah in September and October.

The one-day series next week will be a head-to-head between fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee.

Unofficial timings showed Akhtar broke the 100-mph speed barrier against New Zealand in the recent one-day series. Lee has said he wants to do the same against Pakistan.

"I think both are bowling very well," Waqar said.

"I'm not really worried about pace, I'm more worried about how good he's (Akhtar) bowling."

The first two games of the three-match series will be played indoors at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on June 12 and 15, with the third game in Brisbane on June 19.