Karachi: Pakistan will avoid scheduling matches against England in Peshawar and Quetta, cities close to the Afghan border, later this year, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources said on Thursday.

England are due to tour Pakistan from October 25 to play three Tests, five one-day Internationals and two three-day tour games.

The board has provisionally scheduled the Tests for Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, with two one-dayers in Karachi and two in Lahore, a PCB source said.

The north-western city of Peshawar has not hosted visiting teams since the September 11 attacks amid security concerns.

Quetta, in the south west, boasts a recently completed cricket stadium but the city has seen a surge in violence in recent months by autonomy-seeking tribal militants.

PCB director of operations Saleem Altaf said: ?We?ve sent a letter to the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) chairman David Morgan proposing tentative venues for the matches but the itinerary is yet to be finalised.

?So far, they have not raised any concerns about any venue.?

West Indies and Australia refused to tour Pakistan in 2002 because of security concerns. The New Zealanders returned home in May that year without playing a Test after a suicide bomb attack outside their Karachi hotel killed 14 people.

New Zealand and South Africa declined to play in Karachi and Peshawar in 2003. England last toured Pakistan in 2000-1, winning their first-ever Test series on Pakistan soil 1-0. (Reuters)