England pulls out of Pakistan tour of October due to security reasons

England cricketers will not travel for matches in Pakistan next month due to security reasons.

The decision taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board on Monday came three days after New Zealand Cricket abandoned its men’s team’s limited-overs tour of Pakistan following a government alert warning of a possible attack outside the Rawalpindi Stadium.

We are aware that there are growing concerns about travel to the region, the ECB said, and believe the move forward will add further pressure to a sporting group that is already operating in a restricted COVID environment. period has been met.

England’s men’s and women’s teams were to play Twenty20 matches in Rawalpindi next month.

The England men have not played an international match in Pakistan since 2005, while the women were touring for the first time. He had to play three ODIs and two T20s.

Pakistan was a no-go zone for international cricket teams for a decade after the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore in 2009. Seven people were killed and several Sri Lankan cricketers were injured in the ambush.