Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Pakistan Super League cricket suspended over coronavirus cases

The Pakistan Super League was suspended on Thursday after seven players tested positive for coronavirus, the country's cricket board said.

The Twenty20 competition, which started on February 20, was put on hold "with immediate effect", a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement said.


"The decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition," the PCB said.

The PCB "will focus on the safe and secure passage of all participants, and arrange repeat PCR tests, vaccines and isolation facilities to the six participating sides", it added.

The seven players included Australian spinner Fawad Ahmed, England's Tom Banton and Mohammad Faizan, who represents Lahore.

Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian withdrew from the competition over fears of catching the virus and planned to fly out on Thursday.

"It's a tough day for Pakistan cricket," the PCB's chief executive Wasim Khan told a press conference.

"We will try to find a window to complete the remaining matches before the end of the year."

The coronavirus has proved yet another hurdle for the Pakistan Super League, which is now in its sixth edition but was held entirely in Pakistan for just the first time last year.

Previous editions were hosted wholly or partially by the United Arab Emirates over security fears following the deadly 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.

Last year, three play-offs and the final were cancelled after England's Alex Hales showed symptoms of Covid-19.

The games were rescheduled to November and held behind closed doors, when Karachi Kings won the title.

More For You

Will Britain’s immigration debate catch up with the reality of falling numbers?

An inflatable 'small boat' carrying migrants crosses the channel after leaving northern France on April 27, 2026 in Dover, England.

Getty Images

Will Britain’s immigration debate catch up with the reality of falling numbers?

Sunder Katwala

“Net migration has fallen 82 per cent. My government is delivering”, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer tweeted, celebrating fewer people coming to Britain.

Falling immigration may be Britain’s best kept political secret. Only one in six people know that net migration fell last year or think it will fall this year, according to British Future’s new Immigration Attitudes Tracker research. Half think immigration is still rising. Yet the drops are dramatic. Net migration halved from 800,000 to 400,000 in the first year, then more than halved again to 171,000 in 2025. Few at Westminster have yet clocked that net migration is set to halve again this year, dropping below 100,000 for the first time this century.

That could make 2026 the year when falling immigration becomes harder to ignore. Would it be a political triumph for Labour to actually hit that old “tens of thousands” net migration target that [former Conservative prime minister] Theresa May always missed? That does come with a catch. This government needs to decide how big a price-tag it is willing to swallow for lower immigration. The Treasury numbers added up by estimating an average inflow of 235,000 a year for the rest of this parliament. But that will surely be at least 100,000 higher than reality now. Whether that fiscal adjustment is £13 bn or doubles to £25 bn depends on how low net migration goes. That is a big opportunity-cost choice about government priorities that the Starmer cabinet has never properly considered.

Keep ReadingShow less