The British and Wales Cricket Board (ECB, England Cricket Board) announced on Monday the programmed tour of Pakistan for two T20Is in mid-October – men and women doubleheaders.
This was following a safety threat last week when New Zealand cancelled its tour of Pakistan.
The withdrawal by England was formally cancelled once New Zealand had cancelled its tour on Rawalpindi’s first ODI Day, although the ECB had talked last weekend about discussing the matter. Both countries have used the ESI Security agency headed by Reg Dickason.
The ECB today issued a declaration confirming the outcome. “The ECB has been long-standing committed in the Men’s Future Tours in 2022 to visit Pakistan.
Earlier this year, we agreed to play two more warm-up games for the T20 World Cup in Pakistan, adding a brief women’s tour alongside the men’s matches with doubleheaders.
‘These extra England Women’s and Men’s games in Pakistan have been called by ECB Board this weekend, and we can confirm that the Board has reticently decided not to take both teams off their October trip,’ said the statement.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has until now reacted with disappointment to the cancellation. Ramiz Raja, the newly appointed Chairman of the PCB, had angered responded to the retreat of New Zealand and posted: “NZ’s going to hear us at the ICC.”
His tweet after the ECB ruling read: ‘Disappointed with England, they pulled their commitment and failed when they were most in need of a member of their Cricket Brotherhood. We’re going to inshallah survive.
A wake-up call for the Pak team to become the world’s best team for teams to put themselves together to play without excuses.
However, aside from monetary losses, there is an overwhelming suspicion in the cricket brotherhood in Pakistan that retro-transfer tours could have serious adverse effects. “It’s a blow because this would reduce our interest in cricket to the next generation.
The spectator is inspired to watch the superstars in the flesh. This percentage may decrease in the future without cricket at home. It’s a big bow. The younger generation is the largest loser,” Shoaib Mohammad, former Pakistani opener, told.
The ECB referred to the “mental and physical well-being” of cricketers and support personnel as a reason for cancellation. “We remain at our highest priority for the mental and physical well-being of our players and support staff.
Given the times in which we now live. We know that there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region and think that a player’s group that already has a long time in Covid’s restricted environments is put under further pressure,” the statement says.
He added, “For our Men’s T20 team, this is additionally complex. We think it will not be ideal for touring in such conditions for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup when performing well continues to be a top priority in 2021.”
When cricket resumed in England last year, Pakistan went to play a weird series in the Covid environment. The ECB has sincerely offered the PCB its apologies.
Zone No-go
After the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009, Pakistan became an international cricket no-go zone for almost a decade. After the return to the country of international crickets, teams began touring for short series.
However, house assignments with New Zealand and England were high profile business, and Shoaib agreed that the latest development could create severe doubt about Pakistan’s future home series.
“Once again, the biggest cricket-playing countries are in two minds. Other countries came here, but there will be a vacuum before we are home to major countries. Pakistan cricket will be fully restored when we host, especially England and Australia again.” He said.
A few hours before New Zealand’s first match against Pakistan on 17 September in 18 years, the Black Caps left the tournament to deal with a security threat. And after England was removed, the PCB and its international influence were questioned by a cricket section in Pakistan.
“Cornered was the PCB. They could not move a muscle, and they could not move a muscle, and they couldn’t move the power instead. Pakistan’s security services, however, appear to have thought otherwise of New Zealand, which was a sorry cricket series, are one of the best in the world.
