Pakistan's cricketers face the prospect of having to play all their games overseas for years to come after today's devastating terrorist attack in Lahore.

England could be one possibility, with officials at Lord's having talked enthusiastically in the past about staging neutral Tests, while the United Arab Emirates is another potential venue.

Just hours after the outrage, Australia revealed they were in talks with the ECB over staging a three-Test series against Pakistan in England next summer.

The days of touring teams going to cities such as Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi are over - perhaps for a generation.

David Morgan, president of the International Cricket Council, has already reacted to an outage which resulted in five policemen being killed and left eight Sri Lankan cricketers injured, by painting a bleak picture for the future of the game in a country few, if any, sports people will now want to visit.

"The probability must be that a great deal will have to change in Pakistan before we could envisage playing international cricket there," said Morgan.

"We had already taken a decision that the Champions Trophy scheduled to be in Pakistan in late September and early October could not be staged there because of safety and security concerns on the part of a number of nations."

The Champions Trophy should have been played in Pakistan last autumn but was postponed for 12 months when it became clear that players from England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand would refuse to travel.

Now, cricketers from other Asian nations will want to stay away from a country which could also lose its status as co-hosts for the 2011 World Cup.

Pakistan is supposed to stage 14 games, along with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has confirmed they will review that decision within the next 48 hours.

Sri Lanka were only in Pakistan for this tour as late substitutes for India, who pulled out of their scheduled visit in the wake of last November's Mumbai massacre, which heightened tensions between the two nations.

Australia cancelled last year's proposed trip on security grounds and if there was any chance of England visiting next February, as planned, that has now disappeared.

But even if Pakistan can find a country willing to visit then it already seems clear from Morgan's words that the ICC will not give the games a seal of approval by sending match officials.

English match referee Chris Broad and Australian umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis were among those in a mini-bus which was also attacked as it followed the Sri Lanka team coach. Broad, Taufel and Davis escaped unhurt but a local umpire in the vehicle was seriously injured while their driver was killed.

There may be some calls for Pakistan's cricketers to be suspended from playing matches anywhere in the world until the security situation in their country has been improved. But within the sport, at least, there is likely to be a determination to keep one of the ICC's full members actively involved.

In the wake of today's events, playing 'home' matches in England or elsewhere may be the only way for Pakistan to maintain a full schedule.

"It's very early days and the events of this morning are shocking," said MCC assistant secretary John Stephenson. "I haven't spoken to anyone around the club about the implications for us in terms of neutral Tests."

But asked whether the idea of Pakistan playing a country other than England at Lord's is feasible, Stephenson added: "It would be a service to the game as much as anything. Pakistan have to continue to play Test cricket, and have to be encouraged. I think security would be an issue. But if we could help by staging neutral Tests, and the security arrangements can be organised, it certainly wouldn't put us off."

Cricket had never before been directly targeted by terrorists. All that changed in Lahore today, though, leaving ICC president Morgan to say: "It's devastating news - terribly, terribly sad."