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PCB boss 'very optimistic' England tour can still go ahead

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is very optimistic that their upcoming tour to the UK can still go ahead after having a meeting with their English counterparts (ECB).

The UK has been among the worst-hit countries in the world by the coronavirus pandemic and they are still continuing to move slowly and gradually out of the nationwide lockdown that has been in place since late March.

The PCB and the ECB discussed all the operational plans being put into place for the three Tests and three T20Is that Pakistan are scheduled to play starting in early August.

One of the options spoken about is to keep the tourists in a bio-secure environment through all their matches on tour, with one venue used for practices and another two venues in close proximity used for all six matches.

PCB chief executive, Wasim Khan, told ESPNcricinfo: "We were presented with a lot of the planning and detail that the ECB are putting into place for this summer, especially on the operational side, right from the plane for travel to the bio-secure venues we will play in.

"It was very, very encouraging from that point of view and the PCB is very optimistic about the plans in place."

England players are expected to return to individual skills-based exercises next week after the government eased some lockdown restrictions earlier this week.

The Pakistan tour going ahead will still depend on a number of factors with Khan saying that they would still need to discuss all plans with their players and assess how they feel about the situation.

"We're going to be speaking to the players this coming week and update them on the ECB's plans," Khan said.

"We're not going to force any player to tour if they don't feel comfortable."

- TEAMtalk media

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