ECB ponder first tour of Pakistan in 15 years
ENGLAND could be in line for a momentous first visit to Pakistan for more than 15 years if ambitious plans for a threematch Twenty20 series in January go ahead.
The trip would be a thank you from English cricket after Pakistan came to the UK this summer in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
And with Joe Root’s Test side scheduled to revisit Sri Lanka that month to fulfil a postponed two-match series, it could mean England have two teams on the road at the same time.
The ECB still need to consider several factors, including an already packed schedule, security concerns, player welfare and biosecurity protocols. One source last night suggested the trip ‘could be a step too far’.
But in an official statement, the ECB confirmed they had received an invitation from their Pakistani counterparts ‘in respect of a short white-ball tour to Pakistan in the early part of 2021’.
The statement continued: ‘ We welcome the fact international cricket is returning to Pakistan and are committed to doing what we can to help this develop further. We will be liaising with the PCB, as well as other partners, over the coming weeks to work through the considerations, before a final decision will be taken in due course.’
Ehsan Mani, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told Sportsmail in July that he wanted England to visit, since when his chief executive Wasim Khan has been in contact with the ECB.
England’s next scheduled ‘away’ Test series against Pakistan on the ICC’s future tours programme is not until 2022-23. And since 2005-06, when they last toured, those series have all been in the UAE — Pakistan’s home away from home following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March 2009. They did not host international cricket again for six years.
But Mani insisted Pakistan was now safe to visit, arguing that fears of western cricket nations were a question of ‘perception’ — not least since England have, in the meantime, visited Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand, who have all suffered more recent terrorist incidents.
In the last five years, Pakistan have hosted Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh, as well as a World XI.
But, with India still unable to visit because of political instability, the PCB are desperate for England, Australia and South Africa to tour, and for the muchneeded TV revenue they would bring. Staging cricket in the UAE cost the board a ruinous $50,000 a day.
England’s return to Sri Lanka depends on the cooperation of the local government, who have been unwilling to grant visas to overseas sportsmen because of the spread of Covid-19.
But assuming both trips take place — and England have not staged simultaneous tours since 1929-30, when they sent a Test team to both New Zealand and the West Indies — there would be no pressure on players with security concerns to visit Pakistan.
When they toured Bangladesh in late 2016, not long after a terrorist attack in Dhaka left 29 dead, white-ball captain Eoin Morgan and batsman Alex Hales opted out.
Australia coach Justin Langer spoke recently about his dislike of simultaneous tours, after it emerged Australia’s Test side could visit South Africa early next year at the same time as their T20 team tour New Zealand.
But England had a dry run of sorts this summer, since their Test and white-ball teams inhabited different biosecure bubbles at Emirates Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl for series against Pakistan and Australia.
A trip to Pakistan, though, would be a different venture altogether.