{"id":452800,"date":"2026-03-02T00:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/452800\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T00:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T00:38:11","slug":"jonny-bairstow-andrew-flintoff-england-lions-stuck-in-dubai-as-middle-east-tensions-escalate-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/452800\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonny Bairstow, Andrew Flintoff, England Lions stuck in Dubai as Middle East tensions escalate | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/jonny-bairstow-portrait-session.jpg\" alt=\"Jonny Bairstow, Andrew Flintoff, England Lions stuck in Dubai as Middle East tensions escalate\" title=\"England cricketer Jonathan Bairstow (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>England cricketer Jonathan Bairstow (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Cricket has been caught up in rising tensions in the Middle East, leaving players from both England and <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/pakistan\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pakistan<\/a> stuck in Dubai.England Lions were in the UAE to play Pakistan Shaheens, but everything changed after Iran carried out missile and drone strikes in the region. <\/p>\n<p>T20 World Cup 2026: Sourav Ganguly backs a batting spectacle at Eden Gardens<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the UAE closed its airspace, grounding flights and cancelling Sunday\u2019s match. Among those stranded are <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/jonny-bairstow\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jonny Bairstow<\/a>, former England all-rounder <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/andrew-flintoff\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Andrew Flintoff<\/a>, and 24 other players and staff members.With flights suspended, the team has been unable to leave Dubai. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) says it is working to make sure everyone stays safe and can return home when possible. An ECB spokesperson said, \u201cThe safety and security of our teams and staff is our top priority. We are in contact with security experts and the government in relation to current events in the Middle East, and are following official advice.&#8221;\u201cWe will continue to monitor and assess the situation and official advice in relation to the future of these trips,\u201d the spokesperson told BBC.Bairstow also shared his frustration publicly. Posting on X, he wrote, \u201c@emirates we haven\u2019t had any communication post flight getting cancelled. Tried the lines of communication but nothing. Could someone please be in contact.\u201dIt\u2019s not just the men\u2019s \u2018A\u2019 teams affected. England\u2019s women\u2019s side had plans for a training camp in Dubai, which will now not go ahead. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also staying in touch with the Shaheens and keeping a close watch on developments. For now, there\u2019s no clear timeline on when UAE airspace will reopen, leaving both teams waiting for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England cricketer Jonathan Bairstow (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Cricket has been caught up in rising&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[58212,1721,6717,108567,2321,101,56,54,55,39512],"class_list":{"0":"post-452800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-andrew-flintoff","9":"tag-cricket","10":"tag-future","11":"tag-jonny-bairstow","12":"tag-pakistan","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom","17":"tag-uttar-pradesh"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}