Test captain Ben Stokes says England will trust the ECB security delegationbefore they go to Pakistan next month, despite concerns that next week’sfirst Test in Rawalpindi may have to be moved due to last week’sassassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Imran, Pakistan’s victorious captain in the 1992 World Cup, was ousted asPrime Minister in January following a vote of no confidence in the nationalparliament. He was shot in the leg during a protest rally in the Wazirabadregion of the country recently, resulting in several individuals beingwounded.
One person was killed in the shooting. When asked about the incident at apress conference, Stokes said that he and his players would “put 100percent trust” in longtime security advisor, Reg Dickason, who has overseenEngland’s touring operations for over a decade.
“It was a bit of a shock to see what happened last week,” Stokes said. RegDickason has been serving as England’s security chief for over a decade now.
He’s the best man to be on-site to assess the situation. We can’t commenton anything until Reg sends us a report, but the players and the folksaccompanying him to Pakistan are certain to trust him. You can rely on himwith your life.
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There is no official suggestion at this time that the tour is in dangerfollowing last month’s successful tour.
The ECB has been criticized for canceling its goodwill trip to the countrylast year. The ECB is said to be keen to allow the situation to stabilizebefore any sort of decisions are made, but Imran Khan and co. are expectedto resume their “long march” towards the capital in Islamabad later thisweek, resulting in a potential clash with Pakistan-England first Test.
