Tom Harrison, the Chief Executive of England and Wales Cricket Board has flown down to Pakistan to meet with PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja to mend relations that hit a tough spot after the cancellation of last month’s tour.
As per sources in the PCB, apart from his meeting with Chairman Ramiz, Harrison is also due to call on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad before he flies back to Dubai ahead of the finals of the T20 World Cup and the ICC Executive Board meeting scheduled on 17 November.
The England men’s cricket team was expected to tour Pakistan back in October for the very first time since 2005, while their women have never played in that country.
However, ECB had decided to cancel both the series, citing "mental and physical well-being" of players and security concerns, a decision that faced a lot of heavy criticism.
Harrison’s decision to travel to Pakistan comes immediately after Cricket Australia announced that it would be touring to Pakistan early next year. Not just this, West Indies board had also announced earlier that it would be touring Pakistan in December for a white ball series.
The confirmation by both West Indies and Australian cricket board has come as welcome news for the PCB that was dealt heavy blows by New Zealand’s decision to pull out from their tour in September because of security threats. Later, the ECB had also announced their decision to not send its teams for white ball matches.
A PCB source had been reported to have said that Harrison's visit to Pakistan was welcome and so was his assurance to the chairman that England would make a full tour of Pakistan next year.
Ramiz Raja, however, would be taking up the case against New Zealand Cricket and ECB strongly at the ICC board meeting.
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