The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that they have withdrawn their Men's and Women's teams from their respective tours of Pakistan, which were due to take place in mid-October, just ahead of the Men's T20 World Cup.
‘We know there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region,’ ECB said in a statement. ‘We 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.’
While speaking to BBC, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Rameez Raja slammed decision as ‘absurd’. Raja added: ‘I'm extremely disappointed and so are the fans. Right now, we needed England. We were expecting England to be a little bit more responsible.’
England's Men and Women were scheduled to play T20I double-headers in Rawalpindi on 13 and 14 October. The Women's team would stay further for a three-match ODI series, on 17, 19 and 21 October.
It would have been the first trip to Pakistan since 2005 for England Men, while the Women’s squad have never played there before.