Touring England involves risk factor, admits PCB doctor.

LAHORE -- While admitting that touring England does involve risk due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan Cricket Board`s medical team head Dr Sohail Salim on Monday said the forthcoming series is an attempt to confront the disease on the frontline which will provide home-confined fans with healthy entertainment during the present time riddled with anxiety.

Pakistan`s national team is set to embark upon the tour of England on June 28 to play three Test matches there and as many T20 Internationals during AugustSeptember.

`The risk factor is there.

However, just imagine that all possible steps have been taken to minimise the risk level. Crowds will not be allowed to come to stadiums, just to reduce the risks.

As almost the entire world has been home-confined during the last three months the anxiety level of many of us has increased. And under these circumstances it [the England tour] is a good attempt to provide cricket fans with some entertainment,` Dr Sohail said during an online media talk.

`All of us have been fighting this Covid-19 disease at the forefront in different ways. Doctors, in particular, face the biggest risk, which is being reduced by taking all possible [precautionary and safety] steps.

It may be mentioned here that though the PCB could not hold a training camp for national team in Lahore from June 10 as per its plan for the England tour amid rising number of Covid-19 cases in Pakistan.

Then considering the bio-secure arrangements made by its counterpart, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the PCB has decided to hold the camp in England.

Asked to comment on the working capability of the ECB which managed to brief the PCB about its bio-secure arrangements on May 15 when the Covid-19 cases in England were rapidly rising, Dr Sohail said the PCB trusts the ECB.`We believe in their [ECB`s] capabilities and so far things are moving in the right direction for creating a bio-secure environment.

Luckily we have the West Indies series in England prior to our series and it will help clear the things much better.

PCB`s failure to create biosecure environment anywhere in Pakistan for national team`s training camp in the country explicitly proved that it lacks in taking practical steps and is more focused on lip service.

`The PCB and the ECB are working very closely with each other. This collaboration aimed at resuming cricket is progressing robustly,` Dr Sohail further said.

Answering a question on not holding the said camp in...