England cancel tour to Pakistan: PCB chief Ramiz Raja vows to ‘avenge’ Western Bloc

After
New
Zealand
decided
to
abandon
their
tour
of
Pakistan
right
ahead
of
the
first
ODI,
England
and
Wales
Cricket
Board
(ECB)
on
Monday
(September
20)
announced
that
its
men’s
and
women’s
tour
of
Pakistan
in
October
would
not
go
ahead
as
planned.

“I
am
severely
disappointed
in
England’s
withdrawal
but
it
was
expected
because
this
western
bloc
gets
united
unfortunately
and
tries
to
back
each
other.
So,
you
can
take
any
decision
on
the
basis
of
security
threat
and
perception.

“There
was
a
sense
of
anger
because
first
New
Zealand
got
away
without
sharing
information
about
the
threat
they
were
facing,”
ESPNcricinfo
quoted
Raja
as
saying.

“Now,
this
England
was
expected
but
this
is
a
lesson
for
us
because
we
go
out
of
our
way
to
accommodate
and
pamper
these
sides
when
they
visit.
And
when
we
go
there,
we
undergo
strict
quarantines
and
we
tolerate
their
admonishments,
but
there
is
a
lesson
in
this.
That
is,
that
from
now
on
we
will
only
go
as
far
as
is
in
our
interest,”
he
added.

Further
talking
about
cricket
in
Pakistan,
Raja
said:
“Our
interest
is
that
cricket
will
not
stop
in
our
country
and
if
the
cricket
fraternity
will
not
take
care
of
each
other
then
there’s
no
point
to
it.
New
Zealand,
then
England,
now
we
have
a
West
Indies
series
that
can
also
be
hit,
and
Australia
who
is
already
reconsidering.

‘This
–
England,
Australia,
New
Zealand
–
is
all
one
block.
Who
can
we
complain
to?
We
thought
they
were
our
own
but
they
haven’t
accepted
us
as
theirs.
We
have
to
improve
and
expand
our
cricket
economy
so
that
these
countries
remain
interested
in
playing
us.

‘That
is
in
our
interests
as
well
so
that
our
players
are
paid
better
and
we
are
respected
more.
They
come
to
the
PSL
where
they
don’t
get
spooked
or
fatigued
but
collectively
they
have
a
different
mindset
together
toward
Pakistan,”
he
added.

Raja
said
his
team
would
now
be
required
to
channel
all
their
frustration
into
showcasing
good
performance
in
the
upcoming
T20
World
Cup.

“We
go
in
the
World
Cup
now
and
where
we
had
one
team
in
our
target
–
our
neighbours
India,
they
now
add
two
more
teams
–
New
Zealand
and
England.
So,
pick
up
the
strength
and
develop
a
mindset
that
we
are
not
going
to
lose
because
you
didn’t
do
right
by
us
with
us
and
we
will
avenge
that
in
the
ground,”
said
Raja.

”Earlier
this
year,
we
agreed
to
play
two
additional
T20
World
Cup
warm-up
games
in
Pakistan
in
October,
adding
a
short
women’s
tour
with
double
headers
alongside
the
men’s
games.

”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
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,”
said
the
ECB.