LAHORE: In another blow for Cricket Pakistan, England’s tour of Pakistan has been cancelled, the England and Wales Cricket Board said Monday.
In an official statement, English Cricket officials said “The ECB has a longstanding commitment to tour Pakistan as part of the Men’s Future Tours Programme in 2022. We agreed to play two additional T20 World Cup warm-up games in Pakistan in October, adding a short women’s tour with double headers alongside the men’s games”.
"We can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip."
🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 20, 2021
It further added that “The ECB Board convened this weekend to discuss these extra England Women’s and Men’s games in Pakistan and we can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip”.
The move came as another blow following the recent development of the New Zealand team which called out at the last minute citing a security threat in Rawalpindi.
Meanwhile, it was England’s first visit to the South Asian country in 16 years and is defined as a massive setback for the cricket-loving nation. Team England was supposed to play two Twenty20s in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14 while the women’s team was also due to play three ODIs on 17, 19, and 21 of the coming month.
English board maintained “we understand that this decision will be significant disappointments to the Pakistan Cricket who have worked tirelessly to host the return of international cricket in their country while rationalizing the decision, it added that “the mental and physical well-being of its players and support staff remains their highest priority, and this was even more critical given the times we are currently living in”.
ECB officials also mentioned ‘added complexity’ among its squad, as it believes that touring under these conditions would not be ideal preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where performing well remains a top priority for 2021.
Soon after the ECB announcement, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Rameez Raja also shared a tweet expressing disappointment as ECB ‘failed’ to fulfil its commitment.
Calling on Shaheens, Raja said it’s a wake-up call for us that we have to be the best team in the world and we have to play against everyone without facing the situation we are going through.
Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah. A wake up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses.
— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) September 20, 2021
On Friday, the Kiwis team cancelled the historic tour shortly before the game citing a security alert, in a massive blow to the PCB officials and crazy fans who waited eagerly of regular international cricket in the country.
Many of the international teams have avoided travelling to Pakistan following the attack by on Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 that killed six police personnel and two civilians – the attack was staged by arch-rival India to seal international cricket in Pakistan however Lankan players were the first one who visited the South Asian country hosted a first home men’s Test for 12 years in 2019.
Now, all eyes will be on Cricket Australia who stated that they are monitoring the situation and would talk with the relevant authorities once more information becomes known.
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