Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar said on Monday that the cancellation of the tour to Pakistan by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was a ‘writing on the wall’.

“They are all colluders. It was expected that if New Zealand decides to call tour off, England will follow suit,” the fast bowler told the media, soon after the ECB announced its decision of its team not visiting Pakistan.

“The decision was predetermined as England, Australia, and New Zealand had mutually consulted over it. They wanted to build a narrative against Pakistan and they successfully did that,” Akhtar said.

As for “hesitatingly cancelling” the tour, they should first come here and carry out their assessment of the situation and see how things are in Pakistan, Akhtar said.

Akhtar said when “they want to evacuate their soldiers”, then they cannot find a better country to seek help from than Pakistan. “When they cannot find a flight, then PIA becomes the best airline.”

Akhtar said that now it is time for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to run like a corporation. He further added that since that board does not have money, no other board would take it seriously.

If the series had been worth $50 million, England would have played Pakistan in Afghanistan, Akhtar remarked, pushing the board to get to its feet.

“Today Pakistan needed this tour the most, but they managed to single out Pakistan — and they have been successful,” he said, stressing the need for PCB to lobby in the ICC.

The ECB cancelled its tour to Pakistan a few days after NZC had cancelled the tour unilaterally just a few minutes before the toss because of security concerns.

The ECB says that the well-being and safety of our players and staff come first and this was especially important given the “period we are now living in.”

England’s men and women teams were due to play two Twenty20s in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14. The women’s team were also due to play three ODIs in Pakistan on October 17, 19, and 21.

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