Michael Holding calls ECB arrogant for cancelling Pakistan tour

LONDON: International commentator Michael Holding has called the England Cricket Board (ECB) arrogant and claimed that if India had replaced Pakistan, England would never have done so. 

He slammed England for not doing what it did with Pakistan because it has a strong board. The BBC quoted Michael Holding, a world-renowned cricketer from Jamaica’s West Indies, as saying that after receiving the Cricket Writers’ Club Peter Smith Award.

The West Indies star bowler said that England had to spend only four days in Pakistan but the tour was canceled on the pretext of the mental health of the players. Citing history, Michael Holding said that Pakistan had visited England at a difficult time and played cricket to save the ECB.

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He said that there was a time when the ECB would repay the debt of this favor of Pakistan but it did not do so. Criticizing the board, Michael Holding said that the English Cricket Board made a statement and hid behind that statement. “No one is coming forward to talk because they know what is wrong,” he said.

“The ECB’s statement is beyond my comprehension and has no weight, it is all nonsense,” he said. Michael Holding said the ECB’s attitude was a sign of Western arrogance. The England Cricket Board had officially announced the end of its tour of Pakistan on September 20.