PCB turns down players' request to allow family members on tour

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) turned down players' request to allow their family members to stay on with them till the conclusion of the third Test. The board had already made it clear at the start of the tour that wives and children will be allowed to accompany the players only until the second Test in Manchester.

"They asked Intikhab to get approval from the board that they could have their families stay with them until the third Test although the agreement was that the families would return home after the second test," a source told the Press Trust of India on Tuesday (July 26). "But the PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan who is in England at the moment after consulting his aides has turned down this demand from the players.

"The board's point of view is that given the importance of the tour the players needed to focus on their cricket and could only have their families for the first two Tests."

A number of players including Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Muhammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Yasir Shah and Asad Shafiq have taken their wives and children on tour. The players argue that spending too much time away from their families affects their cricket considering there are no international matches in Pakistan.

Pakistan cantered to an impressive 75-run win over England in the first Test at Lord's but succumbed to a massive 330-run loss in the second Test at Old Trafford.

They will now play a two-day warm-up game against Worcestershire before heading to Edgbaston for the third and final Test.