Karachi, Nov 18: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke is confident that Test series between Pakistan and Australia next summer will attract big crowds in England.
Pakistan was forced to host its home series against Australia in England because of security concerns in the terrorism and bomb ravaged country.
"There is no question that there is strong goodwill towards Pakistan in Yorkshire," Clarke said.
"We want this to be very successful on and off the pitch and for that to be achieved the support of the Asian and Pakistan community is important. We want to see full grounds. Pakistan received magnificent support in the Twenty20 World Cup this summer, and we want that repeating again," he added.
At the launch of the series at Leeds Tuesday night, Younis Khan, who pulled out of the Test series against New Zealand to take a break, hailed the decision to pick Headingley in Yorkshire as venue for the second Test.
Younis, who played for Yorkshire during the 2006 season, said he wants international cricket to return to Pakistan as soon as possible but until then he sees no better place to play their Test matches than Headingley.
"I remember when I scored 100 and 200 against Hampshire here in 2006," Younis said. "The ground was packed and it was just like an international game. There has always been a strong support from the Pakistanis here and I expect the ground to be jam-packed."
"It will be hard for the people back home, especially for the youngsters, who will not be able to see their team playing at home," he said.
"But in the meantime England is good for us because a lot of our players play or have played first-class county cricket here and I would love it if we could play regularly at Headingley."
© IANS
