Pakistan cricketer ‘refused’ to meet King Charles at Clarence House after being dropped from squad

Pakistan cricketer ‘refused’ to meet King Charles at Clarence House after being dropped from squad

Pakistan's dropped cricketers were instructed that attendance at a royal audience with King Charles at Clarence House on Tuesday was not optional, though one awkwardly refused. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had grown anxious about the prospect of a humiliatingly quiet gathering to meet His Majesty. The PCB had axed seven members of the touring squad along with several coaching staff following consecutive Test losses to England. With their replacement players not yet arrived on British shores, officials recognised that the pre-arranged meeting with His Majesty risked looking woefully underpopulated. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Those players already discarded from the squad ahead of the third and final Test were told that their presence was still expected, regardless of their feelings about being cast aside. Sources described the resulting mood as distinctly uncomfortable. England dispatched the tourists by an innings at Headingley before inflicting a 194-run defeat at Lord's, with Pakistan's batsmen dismally failing to reach 200 in any of their four innings across the two matches. The PCB responded with a ruthless clear-out ahead of the series decider at Edgbaston on September 9. Five uncapped players were summoned as replacements, while head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed was relieved of his duties. The scale of the restructuring was striking even by Pakistan cricket's standards, where wholesale changes have long been a familiar response to poor results. Four of the sidelined players - Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad and Muhammad Awais Zafar - duly turned up at Clarence House despite having made clear they would rather not. A fifth, whose identity has not been disclosed, flatly declined to appear, protesting against the manner in which he had been treated. The audience itself lasted roughly 15 minutes and was by all accounts amicable. The King offered words of encouragement to the squad during what has proved a turbulent tour both on and off th