Pakistan tour WILL go ahead despite Imran Khan attack

BEN STOKES has given the clearest indication yet that England will go to Pakistan later this month despite fears of unrest over the shooting of Imran Khan.

Concerns were raised about the three-Test tour when the former Pakistani Prime Minister and captain was shot in the leg at a protest rally. And England’s Mark Wood (below) confessed last week he was worried about touring the country at such a volatile time.

But Reg Dickason, the cricket world’s respected security expert, has been to Pakistan and privately assured England he is convinced everything will be safe when they arrive there. ‘What happened was a bit of a shock but Reg Dickason has been the main security man for England for many years and in my opinion he’s the best man to assess the situation,’ said Test captain Stokes.

‘Whatever Reg comes back with the players and people on that tour trust him 100 per cent.’ Relations between England and Pakistan were hugely damaged when the T20 side pulled out of two goodwill matches in Pakistan last year, a decision that eventually led to the resignation of ECB chairman Ian Watmore. But those relations with a country who did much to bale England out of a financial crisis by visiting during the Covid summer of 2020 were restored by the seven-match T20 series that took place in Karachi and Lahore ahead of this World Cup. Now England seem determined to carry on rebuilding those bridges by flying to Pakistan for an eagerly awaited Test series that begins on December 1. An ECB spokesperson said that Dickason is expected to make one more visit before giving the final all-clear.