England Cancelling Pakistan Tour Last Year 'Made Absolutely Zero Sense’- Alex Hales

Out of favour England batter, Alex Hales has said that the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) decision to cancel the men’s and women’s tour of Pakistan “made zero sense”. Hales is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2022) edition in Pakistan where he turns out for Islamabad United.

The ECB had taken a knee-jerk decision to call off their proposed men’s and women’s white-ball tour of Pakistan citing player security issues after New Zealand called off their tour on the day of the first ODI of the series after receiving a security threat warning from the officials of their country.

England was supposed to play three T20I matches in Pakistan as preparation for the T20 World Cup 2021 that followed in UAE.

“That decision to cancel that tour made absolutely no sense. Especially after Pakistan came to England during Covid and helped out the ECB massively. So for them to cancel that tour made absolutely zero sense to me. It was only a short tour, only a few T20s so it made no sense,” Alex Hales told Geo TV.

Alex Hales has more experience of playing in Pakistan than most English cricketers.

It’s A Great Place To Come And Play Cricket, I Absolutely Feel Safe: Alex Hales On Playing In Pakistan

Alex Hales is in his fifth season at the PSL and has played in Pakistan in four of those, including two seasons disrupted by the pandemic. He’s in a second stint with Islamabad United, having won the league once with Karachi Kings in the past, and he has been one of the league’s standout openers, averaging over 44 at a strike rate nearing 150.

He’s also part of a 20-plus contingent of English players involved with the six franchises this season.

“I’ve been here four or five times now and get looked after really well,” Hales said. “Every time we come here, the people are very hospitable and cricket is always really good. The fans here are crazy for it. So, it’s a great place to come and play cricket, I absolutely feel safe.

I am just enjoying myself and scoring as many runs as possible and that’s the way I’m going to get back into the England squad, just to keep knocking on the door with runs is certainly something I’ve done over the last couple of years,” Hales added.

The ECB and PCB have since renegotiated that tour and now the England side will tour Pakistan twice later this year. They will first visit in September for a seven-match T20I series, in order to prepare for the T20 World Cup 2022 to be played in Australia.

England will then travel in November-December for three Test matches.

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