Team England Player Partnership (TEPP) body, which represents England's international players, has on Saturday (September 25) claimed that the cricketers had no role in the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) decision to call off their next month’s tour of Pakistan.
Recently, the ECB called off both men's and women’s teams’ tours of Pakistan next month, citing players' “mental and physical well-being” after New Zealand pulled out of the Pakistan tour citing security concerns – the decision was criticized by many with many targeting players.
A TEPP official revealed that the ECB never consulted or asked the cricketers' inputs about touring Pakistan and even they were informed about the decision on Sunday afternoon.
TEPP chairman Richard Bevan told ESPNcricinfo: “At no stage has the ECB ever asked Team England Player Partnership or the teams, men and women, whether the tour should go ahead or whether players were prepared to tour Pakistan. At no stage has Team England Player Partnership informed the ECB that the players would not be touring. It is 100% incorrect to suggest TEPP intervened to say the players would not tour.”
Noteworthy, England men's team was scheduled to play two T20Is on October 13 and 14 in Rawalpindi, and the women's side was due to stay on for a three-match one-day international series from October 17-21.
(With Reuters/Daily Mail Inputs)
