INTERNATIONAL: England have withdrawn their men's and women's teams from next month's tour of Pakistan. The England Cricket Board made the announcement three days after New Zealand abandoned their tour of the country amid security concerns.

The England teams were each scheduled to play two Twenty20 internationals on the 13th and 14th of October in Rawalpindi. The women's side was due to stay on for a three-match one-day series from the 17th to the 21st. In a statement, the ECB says it had reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams. It acknowledged there are increasing concerns about travelling to the region and says it believes that going ahead would only add further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in the environment of the pandemic.

The ECB conceded that the announcement would come as a huge disappointment to the Pakistani Cricket Board. It said Pakistan had been working tirelessly to host the return of international cricket. New Zealand abruptly abandoned their tour of Pakistan on Friday citing a security alert. International teams have largely refused to tour Pakistan since the 2009 attack by Islamist militants on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore. Six policemen and two civilians were killed.

^{PHOTO: RECENT FOOTAGE OF ENGLAND CRICKET SQUAD TRAINING / PAKISTAN CRICKET SQUAD TRAINING / NEW ZEALAND CRICKET SQUAD TRAINING / SECURITY ESCORT FOR NEW ZEALAND CRICKET IN ISLAMABAD / FILE OF AFTERMATH OF ATTACK ON SRI LANKA TEAM BUS IN 2009}