Oct 6, 2021: Former West Indies bowler Holding slammed England’s decision to axe its tour of Pakistan last month. Says England showed ‘Western arrogance’ in cancelling Pakistan tour.

Former West Indies cricketer Michael Holding has criticized the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for canceling a tour of Pakistan, saying it showed “Western arrogance”.

Last month, the ECB canceled its men’s and women’s white hair tour of Pakistan due to “mental and physical fitness” concerns. The decision came three days after New Zealand canceled a tour just minutes before the start of the opening match, citing a security threat.

Holding who has a glittering career of 60 test matches and 102 ODIs under his belt, said “The ECB statement doesn’t wash with me. No substance, nobody wants to come forward and face up to anything because they know what they did was wrong. So they put out a statement and hid behind a statement. It just reminds me of the rubbish they did with Black Lives Matter.”

“What that signal sends to me, is the same Western arrogance. I will treat you how I feel like treating you, it doesn’t matter what you think, I’ll just do what I want.”

This would be the first time in the history of the England women’s team and the first visit of their male counterparts to Pakistan since 2005.

“Pakistan went to England for six or seven weeks before the vaccine became available,” Holding said a respected television commentator since his retirement from the game in 1987 and author of Why We Kneel, How We Rise, a sober account of racial discrimination.

“They stayed, they played their cricket, they honoured what England wanted them to honour, to save England’s butt, to put it mildly. Four days in Pakistan? I’m absolutely sure they would not have done that to India, because India is rich and powerful.”

Rameez Raja, the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), criticized the “Western bloc” for “using and binning” his country. He warned that the move risked creating divisions in international cricket.

The PCB trusts its security arrangements and believes that the country is safe to host international cricket.

Although New Zealand did not provide details of the security threat, Pakistan provided media with evidence of the origins of the cyber threat that originated from India. A threatening e-mail Martin Guptill’s wife, warning the team against staying in Pakistan from an unknown source which according to investigations by Pakistan’s authorities originated from an IP in India.

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