New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan has been cancelled due to security concerns, just moments before the first of three ODIs was set to commence.
It’s the latest blow for cricket in the country, which had only resumed hosting international matches in the last two years after a decade-long hiatus, following the attacks on the touring Sri Lankan team back in 2009.
“Following an escalation in the New Zealand Government threat levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security advisors on the ground, it has been decided the Black Caps will not continue with the tour,” New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.
“Arrangements are now being made for the team’s departure.”
The start time of the match had initially been pushed back for security reasons, before being canceled entirely once the Black Caps made their intentions clear.
New Zealand’s cricket team had refused to travel to the stadium in Rawalpindi, citing security concerns, two Pakistani officials say.
“Our security officials and Pakistan cricket board has been trying to convince the team for hours, but that didn’t work,” said a top security official with direct knowledge of the security details on the visiting team.
Another Pakistani government official also told Reuters the team wasn’t ready to enter the stadium on security grounds.
New Zealand Cricket Players Association chief executive Heath Mills supported the move.
“We’ve been across this process throughout and are fully supportive of the decision,” Mills said.
“The players are in good hands; they’re safe – and everyone’s acting in their best interests.”
The news of the tour’s cancellation has already caused consternation. Pakistan cricket fans have voiced their displeasure on social media, while the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Twitter account was quick to express their disappointment.
The tour was New Zealand’s first to Pakistan in 18 years, and was set to featured three ODIs and five Twenty20 matches in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Nick Symonds . Pakistan is a dangerous place but Khan was right to say OBL was martyred, because he is a martyr to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
DAVEC
Roar Rookie
in the end a decision was made by the NZ Government andNZ Cricket to cancel the tour and hopefully for the right decissions
Jeff
Roar Rookie
We can always stay.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Agreed. The original decision to tour was ridiculous and has now been fixed. Cool!
DTM
Roar Rookie
No reason NZ couldn't be included in that group to make it 4. I'm sure they could arrange 2 series of 5 tests each calendar year. This would mean an Ashes in Aust every 3 years and one in England every 3 years. They could then play one off test matches (or even 2 or 3 test series) against other countries as practical. Makes a lot of sense but wont happen.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
There must be new info. Pulling out once the team is already in the country makes no sense without it. What that info is, one can only speculate. Its a rough one for the public in Pakistan, but presumably a wise precaution. Its not as though Islamic militants of all stripes haven't been granted a huge morale boost in recent times. That some groups would be looking to assert themselves and reach into the safer areas of Pakistan for high profile attacks is not a big stretch. Any noise of a threat would have to considered credible.
Ace
Roar Rookie
No. Not while you carry on. Write us an interesting article if you like cricket so much. Something for you to get some thanks from us for enjoying the article
Sedz
Guest
And some of them blame India/Modi/BCCI/IPL for NZ tour cancellation. I'm not a Modi supporter but this is hilarious. Don't think one democracy can control another democracy to skip the tour. But that's how social media works ????
Sedz
Guest
Pakistan is a very complex country and their media and government is controlled by Army & ISI. People of Pakistan hardly get the real information. Having said that Western countries like UK, NZ or Aus may have a threat from ISIS/Al-Qaeda whereas India have a threat from JeM, Hizbul Mujahideen and similar groups. Even the home team Pakistan has threat from Pakistan version of Taliban. ISI supports lot of such group till date.
La grandeur d'Athéna
Roar Rookie
Ow nicky, do not be so naive. We exactly know who did what. We keep hearing about this ISI as if they know everything from north pole to south people,yet they have no clue when pakistani taliban is blowing up foreign scientists. We know who are terrorists, who are colonists, and who had the training courses on these subjects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfrhATD4nM0
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Exporting colonists… :laughing: Developed nuclear warheads in the 60s and 70s when couldn’t even feed your own population. — China-Pakistan? Why should we be worried? That’s your tribal fight issue, right? – PS: good luck with that!
La grandeur d'Athéna
Roar Rookie
We did,that is for the value exporting colonists. You should be more worried about the Pandora's box you have opened up. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-pakistan-nuclear-deal-may-005533308.html
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Will be harder now after the Taliban have reclaimed control in Afg.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
The US and NZ currently being so close 'n all.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yep I saw on Twitter lots of Pakistani fans saying it must have been the US forcing NZ to cancel the tour as revenge for Pakistan’s “victory” with the Taliban in Afghanistan! If the US were seeking revenge it was a bit late, and if they finally decided to get tough with Paks an NZ cricket tour probably wouldn’t be the weapon of choice.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Yeah fair enough. It was a flippant remark at the time last night where in my head I was drawing an analogy to the endless scaremongering phrasings being used in Australia during the 2000s, responding to the comment posted. I didn't adequately connect my thoughts with the written comment. So definitely mea culpa. An example of friendly fire when taking a rapid-response approach to commentary! I think my comments pre and post that, outline my thoughts.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Celebrate your 150+ nuclear warheads.
Paul
Roar Guru
That would make sense, especially if the intel came from within the security forces but not from those in charge. Fans of conspiracy theories will have a field day with this. :happy:
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Indeed, will feel like a huge loss of face for the Paks, hence very strong reactions, justified or otherwise.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
From images I’ve seen, looks like the team had some serious Pak firepower around them. Obviously not enough though, from NZC’s perspective. Reuters reports a Pak Govt official saying the NZ team “wasn’t prepared to enter the stadium on security grounds”, which is an interesting comment – “ënter the stadium”. But it was a Govt official, so may need to take the veracity of the statement with some scepticism.