‘Citing player welfare is strange’ – Michael Atherton slams ECB for cancelling Pakistan tour and allowing players in IPL 2021

Former England captain Michael Atherton has come hard at the England Cricket Board (ECB) for cancelling the national team’s tour of Pakistan. England’s men’s and women’s teams were scheduled to play two T20I matches in Rawalpindi next month.  On September 20, however, ECB confirmed cancelling the tour citing the mental and physical well-being of the player. The English board’s announcement came a couple of days after New Zealand abandoned their white-ball series against Pakistan.

A section of fans and experts aren’t amused with ECB’s decision and reasoning behind the cancellation. After all, several England players are currently in UAE, plying their trade in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Atherton is also disappointed with ECB’s approach as he said it was worse than India’s recent withdrawal from the Manchester Test.

Atherton questioned ECB for allowing their players to feature in a month-long UAE leg of IPL 2021 instead of a short white-ball series against the Men in Green. “Citing player welfare is strange when the ECB has essentially washed its hands of its players’ travel and cricketing commitments for three months of the year so that they can play in the Indian Premier League,” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times.

his decision is worse than India’s cancellation of the Manchester Test: Michael Atherton

“If, as an employer, it is so wary of bubble and cricket fatigue, surely it should take more interest in the players’ availability for the IPL? Now, of course, those who are playing in the [IPL] tournament will be available for the knockout stages. It suits India and England, but not Pakistan, who have no direct stake, their players being barred still from the competition” the 53-year-old added.

A veteran of 115 Tests and 54 ODIs, Atherton further bashed ECB and also called the decision unjustifiable. “This decision is worse than England’s withdrawal from South Africa last winter and India’s cancellation of the Manchester Test this month. While both those actions were hard to justify, they were at least understandable given Covid had come into close proximity to both [the] teams,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, England’s men’s team is scheduled to tour Pakistan for three Tests and five ODIs in November-December 2022. Hence, it would be interesting to see whether the tour will unfold as per plan or any hindrance will occur again.