‘No special deals’ for England cricketers heading to Australia: PM
England cricketers heading to Australia for the Ashes this year will get "no...
UK govt urges ECB to to go ahead with the Pak tour as planned
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The United Kingdom (UK) government officials urged England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to go ahead with the Pakistan tour as planned, according to reports by The Times.
According to a published report, the Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, is also angry with the ECB’s decision to abandon the Pakistan tour. The ministers believe that the decision has damaged the relations between the two countries.
“There were consultations between the ECB and officials from No 10, the Foreign Office and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport before announcing the cancellation of the tour in which the governing body was urged to go ahead as planned,” The Times reported.
“The subsequent decision to ignore those pleas and cancel the tour on the grounds of the physical and mental wellbeing of the players has enraged ministers. They believe it has damaged the work being done to improve relations between the UK and Pakistan at a time when they are particularly important,” it added.
PM Johnson is said to be “angry” over the ECB’s decision to cancel the men’s and women’s white-ball tours to Pakistan next month, according to the report, which claims that the prime minister and senior ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office believe the decision has harmed relations between the UK and the Pakistan government.
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The Times report also suggested that the ECB was eager to find a way for the tour to go forward, but the visit was ultimately halted by an intervention from the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP), a unit within the players’ union that represents England’s centrally contracted players.
The fact that TEPP only represents contracted players was again noted, which would have allowed the ECB to consider taking a team of county cricketers.
“But it is understood this option was not explored,” the report said.
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The report also mentioned that the ECB took the decision that the short tour to Pakistan “was not the battle it wanted to have with the players’ representatives.”
“In calling off the tour to Pakistan, the ECB can turn its attention to making sure that the Ashes takes place as planned,” the report stated.
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