The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)confirmed that they have ‘reluctantly’ pulled out from their tours to Pakistan next month. Both Men’s and Women’s Cricket teams were scheduled to tour Pakistan in October.
ECB on Monday, September 20 that the England men’s and women’s teams will not be going to Pakistan for their respective tours in October.
This comes a few days after New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had cancelled their limited-overs tour of Pakistan minutes before the first ODI after they received a security threat alert from their government on the morning of the game.
ECB in a statement said that given the environment with the bubbles, playing in Pakistan in the current situation with the aforementioned concerns won’t be an ideal preparation for the men’s team especially for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“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,” the ECB release further added.
ECB sincerely apologised for withdrawing from the tour and the impact it will have on Pakistan Cricket and thanked PCB for supporting English and Welsh Cricket in the last two years by touring the country.
England were supposed to play two T20Is in Pakistan on October 13 and 14 as part of their preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.