Heat fear for UAE series
Late finishes for one-dayers between Pakistan and Australia
Last Updated: July 5, 2012 3:34pm
Sharjah: hosting two of the three ODIs between Pakistan and Australia
Fears over extreme heat in the United Arab Emirates have meant matches during Pakistan's one-day international series against Australia could finish as late as 1.45am local time.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have released the schedule for the series - which brings into focus the difficulty of staging major sporting events in the height of the Middle East summer - with three one-dayers and three Twenty20 internationals to be played.
The 50-over leg of the tour will see day-night matches begin at 6pm, and therefore avoid average temperatures of 41 degrees Celsius, meaning a scheduled finish time in the early hours.
Australia Cricketers' Association chief Paul Marsh revealed in June his players would have "significant concerns" about playing in the UAE during the heat of day.
Concern
Those concerns led the International Cricket Council to approve a PCB request to instead stage an unprecedented six-match Twenty20 series.
But following discussions between the PCB and Cricket Australia the late-night schedule has been devised, with the first of the three ODIs to begin in Sharjah on August 28.
All three Twenty20 internationals will be played in Dubai with an 8pm start time.
The scheduling of the matches does, however, underline concerns regarding the 2022 football World Cup which is due to be staged in nearby Qatar at the same stage of the year.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has previously claimed the tournament could be moved to the winter to avoid extreme heat problems, while there are also plans to air-condition each stadium during the tournament.
One-day internationals: 1st ODI, Sharjah - August 28; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi - August 31; 3rd ODI, Sharjah - September 3
Twenty20 internationals: (all in Dubai) 1st T20 - September 5; 2nd T20 - September 7; Third T20 - September 10
