Ben Stokes, the man who will lead England on their return tour of Pakistan for three tests later this year, has placed his and his team’s trust in the advice of Reg Dickason their security chief.
Pakistan has once again fallen into a charged political climate due to the assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his long march with his followers blocking several parts of Rawalpindi in protests, a city where the first test match between the two is set to take place.
Mark Wood was the first Englishman to raise concerns about safety standards following the incident.
Speaking in Adelaide England’s captain Stokes acknowledged that the incident had caused some concern within the England squad, but said that he and his players would place “100 percent trust” in their security advisor, Reg Dickason, who has overseen England’s touring arrangements for more than a decade.
“Obviously what happened there last week was a bit of a shock to see”.
“But we’ve currently got Reg Dickason out there. He’s been the main [security] man for England for many years now. In my opinion, he’s the best man to be out there to assess the situation.
“Whatever Reg says, the players and the ECB will listen because he knows exactly what he is doing.”
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is set to resume course for the capital tomorrow with Rawalpindi their likeliest destination as well which could force PCB to move the matches somewhere else like in the past.
After successfully hosting England for seven T20 Matches, Pakistan will host England’s red-ball side for three matches with the first Test at Rawalpindi set to begin on December 1 before Tests in Multan from December 9-13 and Karachi from December 17-21.
Ben Stokes, who did not take part in the T20 series, will captain the England side for its first Pakistan tour since 2005.
