PESHAWAR: After the England and Wales Cricket Board apologised for cancelling Pakistan’s tour and announced to visit Pakistan next year, Federal minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has termed it a “welcome step”.
“Announcement of ECB to visit Pakistan next year is a welcome step, I would like to thank stars of cricket world, diplomatic community, Media and Cricket lovers around the world on their support for Pakistan Cricket, yet again Pak has emerged as strong and resilient nation,” the minister said in a twitter post.
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Earlier, England Cricket Board chief Ian Whatmore has apologised to Pakistanis for cancelling his team’s visit to Pakistan, saying it was “a difficult decision”. According to the Australian newspaper, Sydney Morning Herald, Whatmore said: “I apologise for any inconvenience or frustration caused by this decision. I will not go into details but we received a suggestion regarding the safety of the players and we made this decision accordingly.”
After New Zealand unilaterally abandoned the ODI and T20 series “due to security threats”, the England cricket board also announced to cancel their scheduled visit to Pakistan.
“We need to improve our relations with Pakistan. We are re-focusing on our tour of Pakistan in 2022,” said Ian Whatmore, head of the English Cricket Board, referring to his team’s next tour of Pakistan. “We will do what we have to do to make next year’s visit a reality,” he added.
The New Zealand team had arrived in Pakistan after 18 years and took part in a practice session at the Pindi Cricket Stadium; however, they called off the tour just before the start of 1st ODI citing security threats on 1 7 September. After the English team declined to visit Pakistan, this year, the West Indies cricket team assured that they will stand by their commitment and will visit Pakistan according to the already announced schedule.