Reports: British PM Boris Johnson 'angry' with ECB over Pakistan pull out

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly upset by England Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to pull out of their men’s and women’s tour of Pakistan, scheduled in October.

The ECB cited players’ mental health and fatigue as the reason behind their opting out, however, their decision coming only three days after New Zealand cancelled their limited-overs tour due to security concerns have fueled the speculations of ECB’s decision being an effect of the former’s pull-out.

Notably, New Zealand were on a Pakistan tour after 18 years, while England were themselves set to travel to the Asian nation after 16 years, with their men’s team in line to play two T20Is in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.

A report in The Times from September 24 quoted the British PM and senior Commonwealth Ministers as saying that the cricket board’s decision has “damaged the relations” between the governments of Pakistan and the UK.

“There were consultations between the ECB and officials from No 10, the Foreign Office and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport before announcing the cancellation of the tour in which the governing body was urged to go ahead as planned,” The Times reported.

“The subsequent decision to ignore those pleas and cancel the tour on the grounds of the physical and mental wellbeing of the players has enraged ministers. They believe it has damaged the work being done to improve relations between the UK and Pakistan at a time when they are particularly important,” it added.

ECB were advised to go ahead with the tour: British High Commissioner to Pakistan

The day after ECB announced their decision, British High Commission to Islamabad Christian Turner, in a video released on his official Twitter, stated that ECB were advised to go ahead with the tour and that there is no role of the UK government in the sequence of events.

The pull-outs of New Zealand and England come at a time when Pakistan is on a road to the resumption of hosting international cricket in the country after the infamous attack on a visiting Sri Lanka team in 2009 brought sporting action in the country to a standstill.