Tag: Ian Watmore

  • Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later

    Ramiz Raja ‘erroneously’ tweets about ECB chairman’s resignation, deletes later

    Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja on Thursday issued an apology for “erroneously” tweeting about his English counterpart’s resignation from his office.

    Read More – ‘ECB announcement to visit Pakistan a welcome step forward’: Fawad

    England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman, Ian Watmore, resigned earlier in the day after increasing pressure since the cancellation of England’s tour to Pakistan, The Times had reported.

    “The earlier tweet was erroneously put on my Twitter account. Apologies,” Raja said, who had given strong remarks after England had decided to cancel their tour of Pakistan following New Zealand’s pull out.

    England’s men and women teams were due to play two Twenty20s in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14. The women’s team were also due to play three ODIs in Pakistan on October 17, 19, and 21.

    In his now-deleted tweet, Raja shared the news of ECB chief’s resignation as a breaking news.

    Tweeple were not happy with him for expressing his views as the Chairman of PCB.

    https://twitter.com/zeeshanali38/status/1446399752225136643?s=20

  • ‘ECB announcement to visit Pakistan a welcome step forward’: Fawad

    ‘ECB announcement to visit Pakistan a welcome step forward’: Fawad

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that the announcement by the English Cricket Board (ECB) to visit Pakistan next year is a welcome step.

    Taking to Twitter, Fawad said that he would like to thank stars of the cricketing world, diplomatic community, media and cricket lovers around the world for their support for Pakistan Cricket. Fawad Chaudhry has taken the opportunity to claim it a victory for the nation as he tweeted, “Yet again Pakistan has emerged as a strong and resilient nation.”

    Earlier today, after a prolonged silence, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has finally apologised for cancelling Pakistan’s scheduled tour.

    England had to play two T20Is at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on October 13 and 14.

    Read More – ‘Mujhe afsos hai, England’s tour not cancelled over security’: British High Commissioner

    ECB Chairman Ian Watmore, in his first public comments since the ECB pulled out its scheduled tour to Pakistan, offered an apology for last week’s late withdrawal.

    According to a sports journalist Alison Mitchell, Ian has said that the Board took advice on security and player welfare (British High Commissioner confirmed security advice hadn’t changed, despite NZ incident). “The board took the decision based on its own judgments & it didn’t go out to wider consultation.”

    She shared that he said: “We need to rebuild our relationship with Pakistan. This was not the right time, we will do whatever we can regarding Pakistan’s scheduled tour next year.”

    Watmore also confirmed that the decision was not made by the players and said no wider consultations were held. “The board took the decision based on its own judgments and it didn’t go out to wider consultation. Had we decided to go forward with the tour, we’d have had to put the proposals to TEPP (the body that represents England players) and the PCA, but it didn’t reach that point.”

  • ‘Decision of England board is cowardly, was made out of fear of the players and India’: British author

    ‘Decision of England board is cowardly, was made out of fear of the players and India’: British author

    British author and journalist Peter Oborne termed the decision of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as cowardly, saying that the decision to cancel the tour of Pakistan was taken out of fear of English players and India.

    The author slammed the English board, saying the grounds on which the visit to Pakistan was canceled were a matter of “grave concern”.

    Peter said: “The England board’s decision to cancel the tour was cowardly and out of fear of the players and India, especially the IPL. The security arrangements in Pakistan were the same as those made for Prince William and Kate Middleton. The British High Commission in Pakistan was satisfied with the security arrangements.”

    While talking to Sky News, the author said: “Not for Pakistan’s cricket, this decision is a blow to the whole world. Pakistan team is one of the best teams in the world, England apparently did not make this decision on security grounds.”

    He also criticised “invisible” Chairman ECB Ian Watmore to come on television and defend this decision.

    “We are kicking one of our closest cricketing allies on teeth because of India,” he stated.

    Oborne said that there was no change in the English board’s security advice, adding that the press release did not mention security but the players’ stress.

    He further said that Pakistan came and played in the UK even in the dangerous time of Covid-19. Pakistan did good to Britain by coming in the pandemic.

    Earlier, veteran cricket journalist George Dobell had taken the ECB to the cleaners for cancelling its tour to Pakistan and had called it out on its “hypocrisy”.