ACA Chief Todd Greenberg To Travel With Australia Team To Pakistan If Tour Approved

Australian Cricketers Association chief Todd Greenberg has said that he will accompany the country’s players in Pakistan should final security approvals for the tour be given.

In what was a pleasant development between the two countries, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced some time back, that the Australia team will travel to Pakistan for the first time since 1998 for three ODIs, three Tests, and one T20Is. The two teams have faced off in UAE in between these times.

However, final security approval from Cricket Australia is awaited and Todd Greenberg was quoted by Sydney Morning Herald saying that the players will not go to Pakistan alone and he will travel with them.

“I’ve made an assurance to the players that they won’t go alone. If they’re going to Pakistan, I’ll be going with them and I think that’s important. It’s an opportunity to show the players that we’re in this together. The ACA accompanied Cricket Australia on a pre-tour of Pakistan late last year, and the reports were all very positive,” he said.

“But we’ll continue to take the advice of DFAT and other government organizations, as we need to be able to satisfy not just the players, but their families, that it’s safe to tour. There may be one or two players who won’t be comfortable despite the best advice we give, and that’s OK, we need to respect that,” he added.

We Need To Respect To Balance Between Cricket And Mental Health: Todd Greenberg

During the ongoing COVID pandemic, cricket has been played amidst strict bio-bubble environments where the movement of players is restricted and even family members are not allowed to travel given the different protocols in different countries.

Todd Greenberg feels that there has to be a balance between fulfilling international commitments and giving players the room to withdraw from tours if they feel the need.

“We have to be kind and patient with each other, and there’ll be a player or two who say, ‘You know what, this is not for me at this particular point in my life and career, I’m not comfortable going’. If that’s the case, we need to have great respect for that,” Greenberg had told SEN Radio during the Sydney Ashes Test.

The Tests will take place in Karachi (March 3-7), Rawalpindi (March 12-16), and Lahore (March 21-25), while Lahore will be the venue for the four white-ball matches to be played from March 29 to April 5. The Tests will be played as part of the ICC World Test Championship, while the ODIs will be connected to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.

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