England cricketers did not play a role in ending Pakistan’s trip, they have never been seen, the union said.

 Team England Player Partnership (TEPP) said no players had been contacted by the ECB prior to the suspension of the trip and had not refused to travel to Pakistan.

POINTS

Team England Player Partnership (TEPP) said cricket players were not asked what they would contribute.
England had left the tour after New Zealand had embarked on its tour of the country
England teams were expected to play two T20 international matches on October 13 and 14 in Rawalpindi

England cricketers did not play a role in England’s decision with the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to withdraw Pakistan, the international players’ union said. England were out of the trip, which was to take place later this year, after New Zealand left the country a few minutes before the start of the first leg citing a security threat.

Team England Player Partnership (TEPP), which represents international players in England, said cricket players were not asked what they would put in.

“There has never been a time when TEPP has informed the ECB that players will not be visiting,” TEPP chairman Richard Bevan told ESPNCricinfo. “There has never been an ECB that has asked TEPP or teams, men and women, whether this tour should continue or whether the players are ready to visit Pakistan. It is a 100% mistake to suggest that TEPP intervenes to say that players will not visit.”

Pakistan has been banned from cricket by other countries for nearly a decade after a deadly attack on a Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009 but has recently returned to the top of the world.

The English teams were expected to play two international T20 matches on October 13 and 14 in Rawalpindi, while the women’s team will have to stay in the three-match one-day series from October 17-21.

“English cricket, the governing body and the players have had the opportunity to do the right thing this week,” wrote former England captain Michael Atherton in The Times.

“They have had the opportunity to pay the debt, respecting their dignity and the cricket nation that has faced challenges that others can no longer afford. Instead, they are quoting mealy’s oral statement, and they have done wrong.”