Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja has expressed his disappointment with the England and Wales Cricket Board after the latter decided to cancel the tour of Pakistan by its national cricket team, scheduled for October this year.
Reacting to the ECB’s announcement, Raja said, “Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah.”
Himself a former Pakistani cricketer, Raja said that the development was ‘a wake up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses.’
Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah. A wake up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses.
— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) September 20, 2021
Announcing the decision to cancel the October tour, the ECB had said, “The ECB Board convened this weekend to discuss these extra England Women’s and Men’s games in Pakistan and we can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip.”
The decision by the ECB came days after New Zealand abandoned its cricket series against Pakistan due to security reasons. The decision by the New Zealand cricket board came just before its national team was scheduled to play the first ODI match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi last week.
Reacting to New Zealand’s decision to abruptly abandon the series, Raja had said, “Crazy day it has been! Feel so sorry for the fans and our players. Walking out of the tour by taking a unilateral approach on a security threat is very frustrating. Especially when it’s not shared!! Which world is NZ living in??NZ will hear us at ICC.”
According to the New Zealand cricket board, the tour was abruptly abandoned following a New Zealand government security alert.
The New Zealand cricket board had refused to share the details on the security alert that prompted it to abandon the cricket series.