ECB to make decision on England tours to Pakistan within 48 hours following security alert

England's men and women are due to tour Pakistan in mid-October - the men for two T20s in the build-up to the World Cup, the women for six white-ball matches - but that trip now looks under serious threat

The ECB will make a decision on whether or not England's men and women will tour Pakistan within 48 hours after New Zealand aborted their men's white-ball trip to the country at short notice following a security alert.

The Blackcaps were due to take part in three one-day internationals and five T20Is, starting on Friday, but are now set to fly back home after a change in advice at government level.

England's men and women are due to tour Pakistan in mid-October - the men for two T20s in the build-up to the World Cup, the women for six white-ball matches - but that trip now looks under serious threat.

An ECB statement on Friday read: "We're aware of New Zealand's decision to pull out of the Pakistan tour due to a security alert.

"We are liaising with our security team who are on the ground in Pakistan to fully understand the situation. The ECB board will then decide in the next 24-48 hours whether our planned tour should proceed."

That England and New Zealand share a security consultant - the Australian Reg Dickason - does not bode well for the chances of the England tours taking place. It seems highly unlikely that a safety concern treated with this level of response by New Zealand would be considered any less serious by other major cricketing nations.

^{New Zealand called off their tour of Pakistan on Friday}

Pakistan had only recently regained the trust of the international cricketing community, following the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore 12 years ago.

The PCB has worked hard to develop a security infrastructure to calm the anxieties of touring players, and in the past three years more and more have returned to play in Pakistan.

In 2020, the entire Pakistan Super League was staged in its home country for the first time, but the T20 competition's organisers and franchise owners will be watching on concerned at developments this week.

The next edition of the tournament has been pencilled in for January and February 2022.

New Zealand's squad had trained as normal in Rawalpindi in the build-up to the game but the first sign that things were not right came when neither side arrived at the normal time ahead of the scheduled first ODI on Friday.

Spectators were not permitted into the stadium, prior to a statement from New Zealand Cricket explaining that a government security alert meant they would be abandoning the tour.