Will England cricket team tour Pakistan?

New England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Ian Watmore says England should “definitely” tour Pakistan provided it it is safe to do so, according to an AFP report.

“It would be brilliant for us and for the game there to get cricket back on,” said Watmore as Pakistan’s tour concludes with the third Twenty20 international against England at Old Trafford.

“With Pakistan back hosting cricket we should definitely go and tour there if it’s at all safe to do so, ” Watmore was quoted as saying in the report.

England have not visited Pakistan since 2005/06.

An attack by armed militants on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in 2009 ended major cricket tours for a decade, with Pakistan forced to play ‘home’ matches in the UAE.

But other countries have since made the trip, with England scheduled to return to Pakistan in 2022.

English players have also taken part in the Pakistan Super League.

Both Pakistan and the West Indies have helped spare the ECB losses that could have totaled hundreds of millions of pounds by going ahead with tours of England even when Britain was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, AFP reported.