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| July 27, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-us-Sani 19, 1426 |
England players concerned over Pakistan tour
KARACHI, July 26: With the itinerary of England’s forthcoming tour of Pakistan yet to be finalized despite lengthy deliberations between the chiefs of the two cricket boards, rumours were circulating that some English players have expressed uneasiness about embarking on the winter trip. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was likely to face a second successive season where its officials were expected to convince the players to trust security assessments after England cricketers became apprehensive prior to the short tour of trouble-hit Zimbabwe late last year.
The ECB chairman, David Morgan, discussed the Pakistan tour at the weekend with his PCB counterpart, Shaharyar Khan, in London. According to Morgan, the cricket boards had come to agreement about the itinerary for the Oct 25-Dec 22 tour that features five One-day Internationals and a three-match Test series. So far, it appears certain that England will play only one limited-overs international in Karachi, although latest reports from the ECB quarters indicate that this arrangement could still be quashed by the players’ unrest especially in the wake of terrorist attacks in London.
However, Morgan had stated that the tour was going ahead despite the latest obstacle. “Now all we are awaiting is the approval from the Pakistan government.
“I hope that we will be able to confirm the schedule within the (next) few days,” the ECB chief was quoted as saying by a British newspaper. England had already refused to prolong their stay in Karachi after acting on the report of two security experts who visited Pakistan several weeks ago while declining to play a Test. The PCB chief, who has been away in London for well over a month, had hoped to persuade the English cricket officials to agree to playing two ODIs in Karachi but instead received a cold shoulder from the ECB headquarters.
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