London: Pakistan will tour England next year, their first visit since their spot-fixing marred 2010 tour, the English Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday.
Pakistan are scheduled to face the recently-crowned Ashes winners in four Test matches, five One Day Internationals and a T20 in 2016, the ECB confirmed.
Pakistan’s 2010 trip was overshadowed by a match-fixing affair that rocked the world of cricket.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir and their agent Mazhar Majeed arranged deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England five years ago in return for money in a deal with an undercover reporter of a now defunct British tabloid.
The lengthy sanctions against the three players expire next Tuesday.
But the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief selector Haroon Rasheed last week effectively ruled out any early return for the trio when England face Pakistan in the UAE in October. Before Pakistan’s visit England will face Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series.
With the PCB indicating that it may raise the issue of India not agreeing on a bi-lateral series in the UAE with the International Cricket Council (ICC), the cricket world body’s President Zaheer Abbas made it clear that they cannot be compelled to play against each other.
“Since the matter is a bilateral one between two boards the ICC can only talk to them but not compel them to play against each other bilaterally,” Zaheer told the media in Lahore.
Last week, BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur had said that there will be no revival of cricketing relations between the two countries unless outstanding political and diplomatic issues are resolved.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan had also admitted that chances of the bilateral series between Pakistan and India in December taking place are now very slim.
A well-informed official said that Shaharyar was very disappointed after the cancellation of the talks between the national security advisers of the two countries. “He was also disappointed with the statement that followed from the Indian cricket board secretary Anurag Thakur regarding playing cricket with Pakistan,” the official said.
The source said that Shaharyar had dropped his plans to visit India for talks with BCCI and government officials to convince them to have the series in December in the United Arab Emirates.
“He is not going to India, but the PCB will this week write to the BCCI a strong letter asking them to honour the MoU signed between the two boards and give a clear answer on the series,” the source added.
