ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: A British Army cricket team is set to visit Pakistan this month to feature in a Twenty20 and a One-day game against the Pakistan Army team and a PCB XI, Dawn learnt from highly-placed sources on Wednesday.
This would be the first tour by any team from amongst the international cricket playing nations to Pakistan since 2009 after a ghastly terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team had forced the foreign cricket teams to stay away from this region for security reasons.
“The team is set to visit in November and all the arrangements have been finalized in consultation with the Pakistan and British Army while the British High Commission is also very much in the loop,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, a Ministry of Interior official confirmed the visit of British Army’s cricket team to Pakistan but refused to share details of the tour. “Yes, the British Army cricket team is coming to Pakistan. However, the details can’t be shared at this stage apart from the fact that they are set to visit here in November,” the official said.
“All I can say is that they will be featuring in a Twenty20 and a one-day match in Pakistan.”
A PCB member at the Board headquarters in Lahore, when asked to comment on the upcoming tour of the British Army team, said: “All we know is that the British Army’s team will be visiting Pakistan and will compete against a PCB-XI in a Twety20 match.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Board official said: “The details about the matches and the tour schedule cannot be disclosed since we don’t want to create any unnecessary hype over the event due to security reasons.”
He further disclosed that Pakistan Army would be the host for the British Army cricket squad. “We want the tour to be a success because soon after the British Army tour, the British High Commission would invite a celebrity team to visit Pakistan and, at a later stage, the national cricket squad of England & Wales Cricket Board may also visit the country.”
The official confirmed that PCB chief Zaka Ashraf has been thoroughly briefed over the matter.
Later, one of the Interior Ministry officials added that media persons would be issued passes after security clearance from the Army’s security department to cover the event.
No official of the PCB media wing was available to comment on the matter despite several attempts to get their version on the British Army tour.
