England 'reluctantly' withdraw from Pakistan tour

England have ‘reluctantly’ decided to withdraw from their scheduled tour of Pakistan, which was supposed to take place in mid-October. The English men and women’s team were due to play T20I double-headers in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14 respectively. The latter were set to stay on for a subsequent three-match ODI series. However, this move which closely follows New Zealand’s withdrawal from a series against Pakistan at the last minute due to a security threat, will certainly hurt the Asian nation’s reputation of being trustworthy hosts.

“ECB has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams”

“The ECB has a longstanding commitment to tour Pakistan as part of the Men’s Future Tours Programme in 2022. Earlier this year, 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. 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,” said the ECB statement.

“The mental and physical well-being of our players and support staff remains our highest priority and this is even more critical given the times we are currently living in. We know there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region and believe that going ahead will add further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments. There is the added complexity for our Men’s T20 squad. We believe that touring under these conditions will not be ideal preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where performing well remains a top priority for 2021,” it added.

“We understand that this decision will be a significant disappointment to the PCB, who have worked tirelessly to host the return of international cricket in their country. Their support of English and Welsh cricket over the last two summers has been a huge demonstration of friendship. We are sincerely sorry for the impact this will have on cricket in Pakistan and emphasise an ongoing commitment to our main touring plans there for 2022,” concluded the statement.

England’s decision expected to make PCB even more unhappy

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had expressed its anger after New Zealand decided to cancel the proposed series just a few minutes before the first ODI.

“Earlier today, the New Zealand cricket board informed us that they had been alerted to some security alert and have unilaterally decided to postpone the series,” the PCB said in a statement.

“PCB and Govt of Pakistan made foolproof security arrangements for all visiting teams. We have assured the New Zealand cricket board of the same. The Prime Minister spoke personally to the Prime Minister of New Zealand and informed her that we have one of the best Intelligence systems in the world and that no security threat of any kind exists for the visiting team. The security officials with the NZ team have been satisfied with security arrangements made by the Govt of Pakistan throughout their stay here,” added the statement.