LONDON: British journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne has taken the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to the cleaners for canceling its tour to Pakistan, terming the decision “a kick in the teeth” of Pakistan.
Speaking to British news channel on Tuesday, Peter Oborne said the ECB’s decision was not just a blow to Pakistan cricket, but to world cricket. “It doesn’t appear to have been made on security grounds,” he added.
The journalist questioned why England had reneged on a promise to Pakistan. “Given that the England Cricket owes so much to Pakistan who came at the height of the COVID epidemic last summer to bail out English Cricket, and what do they get in return? A kick in the teeth,” he added.
Oborne stressed that while certain events had been taking place in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover, the security advice from the British government had been that “it is okay to travel” to Pakistan.
He also lashed out at ECB Chairman for not having come out in public and justified the board’s decision, calling him “Invisible Ian”. Asked why the ECB could have taken the step if there were no security concerns, Oborne said it was because “ECB are pusillanimous, they are affected by the Indians, in particular the IPL (Indian Premier League).”
“It smells to me. This is player power, and a craven, pusillanimous, cowardly board prepared to kick one of our closest cricketing allies to whom we owe an enormous debt of gratitude and honour in the teeth,” he added.
Meanwhile, Veteran cricket journalist George Dobell assailed the English Cricket Board (ECB) for calling off their tour of Pakistan, calling it out on its hypocrisy.
In his latest piece for ESPNcricinfo, Dobell pointed out how the law and order situation in the UK itself broke down a few days before the ICC Champions Trophy clash between India and Pakistan in 2017.
“However, the next day, the game in Birmingham went ahead. Indeed, every game in the tournament went ahead. Despite an obvious increase in security measures none of the teams went home and every match was completed,” he added.
He said that if life should be allowed to go on in Leicester and London, the same should be done for “Lahore and Larkana.” He said that ECB’s walking away from the Pakistan tour proved that it “was a culture of double-standards which appears to view some nations are far less important than others.
England on Monday cancelled their men’s and women’s teams tour of Pakistan next month citing “mental and physical well-being” of the players.
It followed New Zealand’s abrupt abandonment of their tour minutes before the opening fixture in Rawalpindi on Friday following a “security alert” from their government.
