Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has asked Cricket Australia (CA) to act as a responsible cricket nation when deciding on its scheduled tour to his country early next year.
Australia are scheduled to play two Tests, three One Day Internationals, and three Twenty20 Internationals in February-March, 2022. However, New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) decision to pull out of the series on undisclosed ‘security threat,’ followed by the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) withdrawal from the October tour has left Pakistan doubting if Australia will honor its commitment.
Expressing his concerns with the international media in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Raja said that Australia, being a part of the ‘western bloc’ could as well ditch the Pakistan tour next year.
He, however, said that Australia – an important cricketing nation – should not repeat what New Zealand did to Pakistan.
“As it is, it’s a small cricket fraternity and Australia is a major player in that cricket fraternity. What use would Australia be to Pakistan if they act on NZ’s behavior? Or if they see England withdrawing from Pakistan and take a call on England’s take on the situation.”
He criticized the ECB for using petty tactics for the pullout.
“England did not have security reasons to cancel the October trip, it was players being spooked, uncomfortable and iffy. There’s no cricketing sense of that withdrawal.”
He questioned why is that Pakistan is safe for all international players, including those of England, New Zealand, and Australia, during the Pakistan Super League (PSL), but not for their cricket teams as a whole.
“By the way, the neutral security agent we have here who goes all over the world has quoted Pakistan security as the best in the sporting world. It beats the football security, it beats the Formula One security. I don’t know how else we can convince the world that everything is fine here,” he added.
The PCB chairman said that the cricket board is already preparing a contingency plan in case Australia backs out of its promise.
During a presser with local journalists on Wednesday, he said that a triangular series could fill the void if the Australia tour does not go as planned.
