England have refused to travel to Pakistan for their upcoming series against the hosts, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement. Calling players’ safety their “highest priority”, the ECB said that touring under current circumstances is not a good idea as “there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region”.
Notably, England had planned to send the Women side as well to play beside the Men's but neither of the sides will travel 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.
The ECB said that it has a “longstanding commitment” to tour Pakistan next year but the series scheduled in the recent future would not take place as it won’t be an “ideal preparation” for the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to take place next month in UAE.
"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,” ECB explained.
The ECB has also extended an apology to the PCB for the “impact” that their withdrawal will have on their finances and the overall state of the game in the country. They acknowledged the help Pakistan provided over the last two summers in bringing the game back on track in a post-pandemic world.
England's refusal to travel was widely expected after New Zealand pulled out of their tour of Pakistan right before the scheduled start of the first ODI between the sides. Both England and New Zealand employ the same security consultants for on-ground assessment and as soon as the Blackcaps made a choice of travelling back to their country, scheduled England's tour of Pakistan was under the clouds of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, in a similar but a bit softer tone to how he responded in wake of New Zealand’s withdrawal, the newly-elected PCB chairman Ramiz Raja expressed his disappointment with England’s decision.
He said that England’s decision failed a member of the fraternity when they needed their help the most. However, he expressed a bullish attitude on Pakistan’s survival and urged the Pakistan players to become the best team in the world so that other teams “line up to play them without making excuses”.