The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that two Test matches and two Twenty20 international matches between Pakistan and Australia in July 2010 are to be staged in England.

International cricket teams are currently not touring Pakistan due to ongoing security concerns, which were exacerbated by a terrorist attack on the touring Sri Lankan cricket team in March. A deal has now been reached between the ECB and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to provide neutral venues for the fixtures, which precede Pakistan's scheduled tour of England in August and September 2010.

ECB chair Giles Clarke, who has also been appointed to lead the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Pakistan taskforce, said: "The Pakistan Cricket Board is faced with a very challenging situation at present, and the ECB in its role as a member of the global cricket community is keen to offer the PCB all possible assistance."