Fawad Chaudhry welcomes ECB’s announcement to tour Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday welcomed England Cricket Board’s decision to tour Pakistan next year.

Taking to Twitter, Fawad Chaudhry thanked cricket stars, diplomatic community and fans for backing the Pakistani cricket.

He said that Pakistan had emerged as a strong and resilient nation.

“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,” he said.

Last week, England called off next month’s men’s and women’s tours of Pakistan, three days after New Zealand abandoned their white-ball series in the South Asian country over security concerns.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to withdraw after deliberating over the weekend, pulling out of what would have been the country’s first tour of Pakistan since 2005.

“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 ECB said in a statement.

It added, “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.”