LAHORE, July 23(ABC): An England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) team on Saturday termed security arrangements in Pakistan as “satisfactory” after it concluded a crucial visit to the country — a determining factor for England’s tour.
Sources told that the security team’s decision was based on visits to match venues in four cities — Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Islamabad.
The English team is scheduled to play seven T20s and two Test matches in September and December, respectively.
The four-member ECB team comprising Richard Snowball, Robert Lynch, John Carr and Reg Dickson arrived in the country on July 17 and also met with the security officials to review and assess the security preparations made for the England team’s tour to Pakistan later this year.
The delegation will now give its report to the ECB.
According to sources, the delegation declared the arrangements “satisfactory” after getting a briefing from security officials about the security provided to the visiting teams at the hotels and stadiums during their stay.
England’s security team, including Pakistan Cricket Board officials, this Thursday visited the National High-Performance Center (NHPC) and the Safe City Project.
The team also visited the routes which would be adopted for the team’s travel to and from the stadium to the hotel. The England security team also met the top officials of the Punjab Police and security forces.
A briefing was given to the security team regarding the security situation and arrangements in the Safe City project.
Moreover, the English team was briefed about the arrangements of the police force regarding airport and stadium routes, hotels, and parking.
The delegation was also shown videos of the security provided to the teams visiting Pakistan.
Information on the use of modern technology and the cooperation of law enforcement agencies were also shared. The four-member delegation also reviewed the facilities at the NHPC Lahore.