Melbourne, Mar 4 : Legendary fast-bowler Glenn McGrath has said it will be a long time before the Australian cricket team returns to Pakistan, adding that the attack on the Sri Lankan team justified Australia's decision not to tour Pakistan for over 10 years.

"We haven't toured there since 1998 ... what happened yesterday justifies that. I think it will be a long time before any cricket team or sporting team ventures back to that part of the world," he said.

"At the end of the day, we play cricket because we love it and we don't really want to risk our lives by doing it. I think it will be a long, long time before we get back there, unfortunately," the Daily Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

He said the attack would place an even greater emphasis on security for travelling sporting teams, who already had stringent safety arrangements in place to protect players and staff.

"We get good advice, that's what we based our decisions on by not travelling to Pakistan before, so I guess that's all you can do. It's one of those things, it doesn't matter where you are, sometimes it's just wrong place, wrong time, but we do everything we can to ensure the safety of the boys."

Although retired from Australian representative cricket, McGrath is contracted to play in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League tournament, which is due to start in April, subject to the region's security situation. (ANI)