Expressing his disappointment on the withdrawal of England from the upcoming cricket tour to Pakistan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raza said that the decision has failed the cricket fraternity and is very disappointing in nature. On Monday, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that both of their men’s and women’s cricket teams will not travel to Pakistan for the proposed tour.
The decision comes within a couple of days after the withdrawal of the New Zealand team from Pakistan on the grounds of security reasons. The team of New Zealand had completed the quarantine period in Pakistan and was there to play 3 one-day internationals (ODIs) and 5 T20Is although just hours before the first match scheduled on September 17, the New Zealand team announced that they would pull out from the tour on the grounds of safety concerns.
Ramiz Raza said that the decision of the ECB was disappointing and by doing so, ECB has failed a fellow country in the cricket fraternity. Exhorting the team of Pakistan to become the best in the game, Raza said that his country’s team need to put in more effort and emerge as the best team in the world so as to make it difficult for other countries to avoid cricket tours to Pakistan.
ECB has also expressed disappointment and tender an apology to PCB while elaborating that the board is concerned about the mental well-being of its players. It said that the decision to withdraw was taken keeping in mind its players in a healthy state of affairs before the upcoming T20 World Cup. England men’s team was scheduled to play 2 T20Is in Pakistan on 13thand 14th October while its women’s team was up for 2 T20Is and 3 ODIs.
