LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has revealed that he has requested Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May to consider sending the England team to tour Pakistan. Sethi, who is in England to watch Pakistan’s two-Test series against the hosts, made a request after a meeting with May. “I told her that Pakistan awaits a visit by the England team and that we need your help,” Sethi told media on Tuesday. The 70-year-old PCB chief added that he assured May that Pakistan was safe for a visit by the England team. “I reminded the British PM that the Pakistan Army had done a great job in ending terrorism and made big sacrifices,” he said. “As a result, the conditions at our home are better; hence, we are inviting foreigners to come and visit us. We have made Pakistan safe.” Sethi said Pakistan’s current line-up comprised young players who made their way up into the team purely on merit. “They are playing as a tight unit. The main factor is there is no favouritism in the PCB anymore. Our coaches don’t accept references and favouritism, we are working as per our plans. The Pakistan Super League has given an opportunity to young players to mix and socialize with international players. That helps in ending the fear.” He said he hoped that England would tour Pakistan in the near future. Sethi has played an instrumental role in reviving international cricket in Pakistan since the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in 2009 in Lahore. Since then the return of international cricket has been slow but teams have toured the country after different displays of fool-proof security by the PCB, with the help of the security forces and Pakistan Army. Zimbabwe, in 2015, became the first full-member team to visit Pakistan for a limited-overs series. Later, the final of the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) second edition in Lahore opened the gates of more international cricket in the country. A World XI team led by South African Faf du Plessis then helped to revive the spirit of the game in the country all thanks to ICC’s Pakistan task force head Giles Clarke, where the team composed of international stars played three-T20Is series against Pakistan in Lahore. The 2009 event then came full circle when a Sri Lanka side visited Lahore for a one-off T20 to ensure the world the Pakistan for safe for cricket. The next task in Sethi’s to-do list was to bring cricket back to the Karachi, after Lahore had seen its fair share of it. The third edition of the PSL served as the mean for this purpose. After playing two play-offs in Lahore, the final of the league was organised in Karachi’s National Stadium. To further consolidate Karachi as the second safe venue in Pakistan for international cricket, a depleted West Indies side visited the city to play a three-T20I series. Published in Daily Times, May 30th 2018.