WATCH: British High Commission to Pakistan destroys ECB with scything statement on England’s pull out of Pak tour
At the time when England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to withdraw their men’s and women’s teams from the scheduled tour of Pakistan is attracting heavy criticism, comments made by the British High Commission to Pakistan on Tuesday (September 21) have further piled on the scrutiny for the English board.
Christian Turner, the British High Commissioner to Pakistan, confirmed in a video message passed on through Twitter that ECB’s decision was theirs alone and there was no security advisory from the British government against touring Pakistan.
“I share the deep sadness of cricket fans that England will not tour Pakistan in October,” said Turner, adding “I am sad. This was a decision made by the ECB, which is independent of the British government, based on concerns for player welfare.”
“The British High Commission supported the tour; did not advise against it on security grounds and our travel advice for Pakistan has not changed,” confirmed Turner.
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The British High Commissioner denounced ECB’s decision not to tour Pakistan.
“I have been a champion of international cricket’s return to Pakistan and will redouble my efforts of England (men’s) autumn 2022 tour (to Pakistan). My thanks to all at the PCB, who have worked so hard in support of that.”
“I hope we’ll soon hear the roar of full cricket stadiums again (in Pakistan). In the end, cricket will be victorious.”
Aakhir main jeet cricket kee hogee #PakVsEng@iramizraja @TheRealPCB pic.twitter.com/JNgOMcuD7Q
— Christian Turner (@CTurnerFCDO) September 21, 2021
ECB attracts more criticism for Pakistan tour pull out after comments from British High Commission
Since Turner’s comments have come to light, the criticism and the scrutiny that the ECB regime had been facing for their Pakistan tour pull out has only enhanced. Question marks are being raised over England’s intention behind calling off the series only weeks before it was scheduled to be held.
While the England men’s team were due to return to Pakistan for the first time since 2005 and play two T20Is on October 13 and 14, the women’s side were all set to make their first-ever visit to those shores and play three ODIs and two T20Is. The T20Is were due to be played as double-headers in Rawalpindi.
In their statement issued on Monday (September 20), the ECB had said there are “increasing concerns” about travelling to Pakistan at this stage. But the British High Commissioner stated clearly that there was no security advisory made to the ECB against going ahead with the trip and that they “supported” the tour.
ECB’s decision came only three days after New Zealand Cricket (NZC) decided to unilaterally abandon their limited-overs tour of Pakistan. On the day of the opening one-dayer – Friday (September 17) – the tourists decided to cancel their trip and returned home upon receiving a “security alert” from the New Zealand government and their own on-ground security advisors for the series in Rawalpindi.
The England series cancellation has further piled on the frustration for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which was already seething from New Zealand’s call to abandon the series without sharing any details of the security alert that their cricket board was alarmed of by the government.
The successive cancellation of the New Zealand and England tours threatens to undo all the work that PCB has put into boosting the security arrangements in Pakistan alongside the Pakistani government and bringing cricket back over the last decade.
West Indies and Australia are also due to travel to Pakistan in the coming months but the fate of those series now hangs in a balance.