Pakistan faced financial loss, disappointment after England canceled cricket tour, FM tells UK counterpart

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi (right) poses for a picture with his British counterpart Elizabeth Truss (left) in London on September 28, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Foreign Office)

• England and Wales Cricket Board earlier this month canceled both men’s and women’s cricket tours to Pakistan
• Decision came just days after New Zealand scrapped tour to Pakistan before start of first one-day international

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a meeting with British counterpart Elizabeth Truss has conveyed Islamabad’s disappointment over the English Cricket Board’s decision to cancel a Pakistan tour scheduled for the first half of October.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) earlier this month canceled both its men’s and women’s cricket tours to Pakistan. The decision came just days after New Zealand scrapped its tour to Pakistan moments before the start of the first one-day international in Rawalpindi, citing a specific threat to its cricket team. New Zealand did not share the details of the threat with Pakistan.
“This had not only caused financial loss to Pakistan Cricket Board but also deeply disappointed millions of cricket fans,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, quoting Qureshi as telling Truss.
Shunned by all after the deadly 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore, Pakistan has been trying to woo back top international teams.
England is scheduled to tour Pakistan for test and limited-overs matches late in 2022 and the British High Commissioner in Islamabad has said he “will redouble my efforts in advance of England’s Autumn 2022 tour.”