Pakistan has been starved of international cricketing action since 2009, when gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore, killing six Pakistani policemen and two civilians.

The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed Monday it had invited Sri Lanka for a series. But Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was not willing to send the team without security clearances.  

The SLC has now confirmed that they will not be sending their team to Pakistan.   "We are concerned about the security and that's why we said no to them," said Sri Lanka Cricket chairman D.S. de Silva.

"Even the International Cricket Council has not given us security clearance. We are not going to send our team to Pakistan. "I have asked the secretary to inform the Pakistan Cricket Board today (Tuesday) of the decision.

De Silva said they have, instead, asked Pakistan to arrange the series at a neutral venue.  "We have requested Pakistan to host the matches in Colombo or at a neutral venue like Dubai or Abu Dhabi," he said.

The PCB wanted to host three Tests, five One-day Internationals and one Twenty20 match in Pakistan in October-November