Jos Buttler says England team are making a donation - which will be matched by the ECB - to those affected by floods in Pakistan; England start T20 series against Pakistan in Karachi on Tuesday, September 20, as they prepare for World Cup in October
Thursday 15 September 2022 14:30, UK
England white-ball captain Jos Buttler hopes they and Pakistan can play an exciting cricket series to raise the spirits of millions of people suffering from the devastating floods in the country.
The English team arrived on Thursday for their first tour of Pakistan in 17 years to play seven T20s from next week and build up for the T20 World Cup next month in Australia.
"These are tough times that the people of Pakistan are facing with the floods," Buttler said. "We hope that we can, us being here, uplift that a little bit and raise spirits by seeing us play cricket.
"As a team, we're making a donation which will be matched by the ECB as well to try and do a small part to help the people in need at the moment.
"We hope us being here as well will obviously shed light on that as well and people can see that the people need help and hopefully some exciting games of cricket will be a small tonic to raise some spirits as well."
The massive floods have affected more than 33 million people and displaced over half a million people who are still living in tents and makeshift accommodation. The water has destroyed 70 per cent of wheat, cotton and other crops in Pakistan. At one point, a third of the country's territory was submerged.
Buttler also said England were playing to "honour" Queen Elizabeth II after her passing last week.
"Her Majesty the Queen passing, we are all deeply saddened by that," added Buttler. "I think we've seen the reaction, especially at home in England, to her passing and I think cricket did a fantastic job at the Oval [Test match vs South Africa] to honour her.
"The way that game was played, those were some special scenes watching on the TV. So we hope to honour her our own way as a T20 team and play in a fashion to do that."
Most of the England players, including Buttler, are touring Pakistan for the first time. But the recalled Alex Hales, Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson have appeared in the Pakistan Super League.
Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan and Liam Livingstone have skipped the tour but are part of England's T20 World Cup squad.
Buttler is recovering from a calf injury and is likely to miss some games, with Ali expected to lead the side in his absence.
"We're in a bit of a unique situation as a team with a few guys injured, who will be fit in time for the World Cup, but not necessarily fit here. There's a few guys who are still coming back to full fitness as well, so we'll have to manage them through this tour. And obviously the main aim for everyone is to turn up to Australia fully ready to go for that World Cup."
England were due to play three T20s in Pakistan before the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year, but cancelled the tour after New Zealand aborted its white-ball tour due to security concerns.
The ECB decision was described as disrespectful by the Pakistan Cricket Board, which worked tirelessly to convince other leading nations such as South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Australia to tour after the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore.
The port city of Karachi will host four T20s from September 20-25, and the remainder will be in Lahore from September 28-October 2.
