It is easy to understand the anger at England's refusal to spend just four days in Pakistan next month to play two Twenty20 internationals in what was meant to be a goodwill trip.
After all, England were supposed to be thanking Pakistan for playing such a big part in rescuing the domestic game last year when they travelled for a three-Test series at the height of the pandemic in the UK before vaccinations.
Instead, the overwhelming impression given by this week's withdrawal is that England want other countries to help them in their hour of need but will do very little in return. Unless, of course, there is big money involved.
It's easy to understand Pakistan's anger at England for refusing to play next month's T20 series
Nobody would have argued had England cited security concerns for the move in the wake of New Zealand's withdrawal on the morning of their scheduled first one-day international in Rawalpindi last week because of a 'credible' threat on their team.
England are advised by the same highly respected security expert as New Zealand, Reg Dickason, and, as Sportsmail revealed last week, the Kiwis were acting on intelligence from the Five Eye operation that advises both New Zealand and the UK. It would have been an easy and justifiable jump for ECB to make to link the two and pull the plug.
But it was a statement that seemed to blame the anxiety a trip to Pakistan could invoke in the players after all the time they have spent in Covid environments more than any security issues in Pakistan that stretched credulity and smacks of hypocrisy.
Pakistan saved ECB millions by playing at height of pandemic, and this is how they repay them
Remember, all the players would have been asked to do was spend two days fewer in Pakistan than the six-day quarantine period required of those who travelled to the UAE for the resumption of the IPL. Funnily enough, nobody involved seemed to have an issue with that.
What a coincidence, too, that England players at the IPL, including captain Eoin Morgan, will now be able to stay in the UAE for the full duration of the tournament now that ECB have called off tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan that clashed with it.
If we are talking hardship here those Pakistan players who saved millions of pounds worth of broadcasting revenue for ECB by coming here last summer could point to the weeks on end they had to spend in
