The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will inform Pakistan Cricket Board about their position regarding the proposed Bangladesh tour to Pakistan by December 20, it has been learnt.

“We hope that we will be able to clear our position by December 20. We'll sit with our stakeholders, including players and concerned government officials, very soon. We will not force any player to tour with the team. Moreover, the tour is subject to security clearance from our government,” he added.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had proposed two matches to take place in Lahore from January 12-13 to be played in Lahore, one of which would be a One-Day International and the other a Twenty20 International match.

A source in the Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that the board has not received any formal information from its Bangladeshi counterpart and after receiving the information the board will announce its programme regarding the series.“As per schedule, the Bangladesh team has to stay two nights to play two matches and we also got security plans from the Pakistan board. Our board has unanimously decided to tour Pakistan but there are some issues which should be clarified before taking the final decision,” informed Enayet Hossain Siraj, BCB's ad-hoc committee member and chairman of the cricket operations committee.

The new Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazim Al Hassan also met the security team that earlier visited to Pakistan to assess the security and arrangements for the players and he team briefed about the arrangements for players and their accommodation. The BCB chief reportedly was satisfied with their briefing.

Bangladesh officials are hopeful that a tour of Pakistan will go ahead in January, ending nearly four years of isolation for the hosts. The Bangladesh Cricket Board also linked the tour with the security clearance and provision of the match officials by International Cricket Council (ICC).  There has been no international cricket played in Pakistan since March 2009 when a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus shocked the cricketing world. The situation in Pakistan deemed it impossible to stage any international cricket, with bombings still occurring after the attack. The Dhaka High Court deferred a short tour earlier this year, and next year's proposed trip will also have to be given the green light.

But, with the situation improving, it appears that Bangladesh might be the first team to venture into the country in nearly four years early in 2013. Bangladesh Cricket Board head of cricket operations Enayet Husain Siraj insists they will fulfil their commitment to play one ODI and one T20 match if the authorities give them the all clear. "We have in principle agreed to tour Pakistan," he said. "It's a commitment made by former BCB president Mustafa Kamal. We are keeping his word. The tour is subject to security clearance."Now Pakistan Cricket Board must approach to the International Cricket Council to nominate match officials for the upcoming one One day and a Twenty20 to make possible return of international cricket to Pakistan.