Enjoying my stay in Pakistan, says Cricket Australia CEO

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cricket Australia (CA) Nick Hockley has said that he is enjoying his stay in Pakistan as Australia kicked off the three-match Test series against Pakistan on Friday.

The CA official claimed that Pakistan is a hospitable nation and the current tour will help rebuild the relationship between both cricketing boards.

"Today is such a historic day, we’ve been looking forward to it and I could not be more thrilled to be here in Pakistan. The welcome that we’ve received has been just really overwhelming and the excitement among our playing group has just been palpable," he said.

Nick Hockley spoke highly of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its "wonderful team effort" and remained excited for the tour to unfold.

"On behalf of Cricket Australia, I just want to say an enormous thank you to the PCB, to everyone in Pakistan and the ACA. I think it’s been a wonderful team effort and we just can't wait for that first ball to be bowled," he added.

Speaking to the media, Nick said that the West Indies tour of Pakistan gave major confidence to CA to make this tour happen.

"I think the key moment that gave us great confidence was the pre-tour of West Indies series and the feedback from the security official was also very positive. The PCB security officials helped us assess things better which brought more comfort to us," he said.

"We haven’t been here in 24 years, so it was more fear of the unknown. But having the team come here and observe the incredible operations here on the ground gave us great confidence," he concluded.