Karachi, Jan. 13: While the forthcoming tour of Pakistan by Sri Lanka provides Pakistan with a much needed chance to play a Test match on home soil for the first time in an year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants to convince the world cricket community, that it is safe to play in Pakistan.

According to a PCB official, the board is planning to send invitations to top International Cricket Council (ICC) officials to come and see the security arrangements being offered to visiting the cricketers and officials during the Sri Lankan tour of Pakistan.

"There is a big possibility that the PCB chairman ,Ijaz Butt, will invite his counterparts in ICC and Cricket Australia to visit Pakistan during the Test series (against Sri Lanka)," The News quoted Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the PCB, Saleem Altaf, as saying.

The eight-nation ICC Champions Trophy which was scheduled for September 2008 was postponed, and later rescheduled for October 2009, due to the deteriorating security condition of Pakistan.

Australia is also slated to visit Pakistan for a one-day series in April, but Cricket Australia has said it would assess the security situation in Pakistan before confirming the tour.

"The Sri Lanka series in Pakistan can be used as a yardstick by the ICC and Cricket Australia," Altaf said.

"Now that the series against India is not happening, the only opportunity for others to see for themselves that Pakistan is a safe destination for cricket is the series against Sri Lanka," he added. (ANI)