The England and Wales Cricket Board on Monday announced that it was withdrawing its men’s and women’s teams from their Pakistan tour which was scheduled for the next month. The ECB cited “increasing concerns” about travelling to Pakistan.
“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”, ECB said in a statement.
England men’s and women’s teams were scheduled to play T20 matches in Rawalpindi next month.
Ramiz Raja, the newly-elected Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, was not happy with the decision. Taking to Twitter, he chastised England for abandoning Pakistan when it was needed the most.
“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”, Raja said in the tweet.
The England men’s international cricket team has not played in Pakistan since 2005 and the women’s team was to play for the first time. They were due to play ODIs and T20 matches.
Pakistan has been a no-go area of international cricket teams since the infamous attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009 that left seven people dead and wounded several players.
The international tours were put on a halt for ten years and resumed only in 2019. But since the resumption, Pakistan has struggled to convince international teams to tour the country and play cricket with their Pakistani counterparts.
ECB’s cancellation of the tour came three days after New Zealand withdrew its players just minutes before their match was due to begin in Rawalpindi. NZ cited “security concerns” for the decision.