LONDON – Former Windies pacer Michael Holding lashed out at England and Wales Cricket Board for canceling tour of Pakistan, saying the incident showed ‘western arrogance’.
The 67-year-old famed cricketer turned commentator said “Nobody wants to come forward and face up to anything because they know what they did was wrong so they came with a statement and hid behind it”.
England would have never responded this way if it was India, saying “Four days in Pakistan was all they would have spent” saying “You know why? Because India is rich and powerful. I am in total agreement with Mike Atherton and George Dobell, who wrote articles condemning England and the ECB”.
Speaking after receiving the Cricket Writers’ Club Peter Smith Award, he said England showed ‘Western arrogance’ while referring it with England’s ‘rubbish’ response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Holding went on to say that Pakistan went to England in 2020 before vaccines were available for six, seven weeks, something like that. They stayed, they played their cricket, they were in that bubble.
‘Disappointed yet again,’ says Babar Azam after ECB calls of Pakistan tour
English crick team was due to play two T20 matches in the country in October but they withdrew from tour citing concerns about the mental and physical well-being of players.
Earlier, ECB Chairman, Ian Watmore, said I’m very sorry to anyone who feels hurt or let down by our decision, particularly in Pakistan. “The decision the board made was an extremely difficult one and the board made it with the primary consideration being the welfare and mental health of our players and staff,” he said in his first statement since calling out the much-awaited tour.
England cricket chief apologises for cancelling Pakistan tour, vows to return in 2022
ECB announced not coming to Pakistan when PCB officials and cricket fans were recovering from New Zealand’s snub from the Pakistan tour at the last minute ahead of its series due to ‘security’ concerns.
