NAIROBI - Australia this week starts the first leg of its Africa-Asia-Arabia cricket tour in Nairobi against the team most likely to stand in its way when the world championship kicks off on this continent in February.

A two-month trip which takes Australia from Africa, to Sri Lanka and then the United Arab Emirates, starts with a match on Friday against Pakistan, one-day cricket's definition of mercurial but a team currently running hotter than any other.

Since losing the final of the Natwest series against Australia at Lord's just over a year ago, Pakistan has won a remarkable 18 of its past 26 matches - a 70 per cent winning record.

The run also coincides with Pakistan being forced into exile following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In the past year, as most nations refuse to travel to the Islamic nation for security reasons, Pakistan has played only three one-day matches at home, all for wins against New Zealand.

The journey has taken the Pakistanis from Sharjah to Chittagong and Dhaka in Bangladesh, to Melbourne, Brisbane and Tangiers. Now it is Kenya for what is supposed to a home series.

For Ricky Ponting's Australians, this series is a warm-up for what could be a crucial match against New Zealand to open the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka next month.

With Australia and New Zealand drawn in a group alongside against Bangladesh - a near certain win for both sides - their opening match will determine which team advances to the semi-finals.

Given the Kiwis' recent domination last summer, it's crucial match for the Australians. Lose it and they are effectively out of the one-day series and will have precious little to do for three weeks before the moveable Test series against Pakistan starts in Colombo before heading to Sharjah.

Following that series, the Australians will barely have time to think before they are up against England in an Ashes series which will be jammed up against more one-dayers against England and Sri Lanka, the finals of dovetailing into the World Cup, which will be played in South Africa, with matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Ahead of the World Cup, this series - which starts with Pakistan against Kenya on Thursday - is vital preparation for Kenya, which will host matches against New Zealand and Sri Lanka during the World Cup.

This will be a test of security as well as the growing popularity of cricket here.

Kenya, a winner of eight of its 43 one-day matches, has been warming with convicning wins against Bangladesh A.

As a sideline, the fact Nairobi is at an altitude of 1820 metres, should provide Brett Lee and Shoaib Ahktar with the atmospheric conditions to bowl as fast as possible in the thin air.

© 2002 AAP

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.