West Indies bowling legend turned commentator Michael Holding has accused the England team of displaying ‘western arrogance’ following the decision to withdraw from the tour of Pakistan.
Last month, the England Cricket Board announced the decision to pull out of the tour of Pakistan, which was expected to include matches for both the men’s and women’s teams. The decision came sharply on the back of the New Zealand’s team's choice to pull out of a similarly planned tour after citing security concerns.
The ECB cited a concern for "mental and physical well-being" as the primary reason for taking the decision particularly as the group had ‘already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments’. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair Ramiz Raja accused the ECB of failing a fellow member of the cricket fraternity and Holding was also not convinced by the body’s reasons.
"The ECB statement doesn't wash with me," the always forthright Holding said. "No substance."
"Nobody wants to come forward and face up to anything because they know what they did was wrong,” he added.
"So they put out a statement and hid behind a statement. It just reminds me of the rubbish they did with Black Lives Matter.
"I won't go back into that because I've said enough about that. But 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."