NZ tour of Pakistan

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NZ may abandon tour

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will decide by Monday whether the tour of Pakistan will go ahead.
Specific threats were made against the players prompting four to pull out and others to express doubts.

Full details of the threat have not been released but NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said it was “explicit about the Black Caps in Pakistan.”

He said an e-mail “certainly threatened consequences if the team were to ignore the warning.”

Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Lou Vincent, Ian Butler have all said they will not travel to Pakistan.

Heath Mills, manager of New Zealand Players Association, said other team-mates were “definitely shaken” by the threat.

Snedden said officials were gathering as much information as they could about the threat.

He insisted it was still “a bit difficult to know” if the tour will go ahead.

Bomb

The Black Caps cut short their tour of Pakistan following a bomb outside their Karachi hotel last year.

The country became a no-go zone for other cricketing nations until Bangladesh toured in August this year, and South Africa followed last month.

South Africa avoided Karachi and the northwest city Peshawar on the grounds of risk and the team was flanked by presidential-level security squads.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Samiul Hassan said: “Security is perfect.”

The revised New Zealand itinerary, due to start on November 22, also avoids Karachi.

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If NZC has received email threat they should investigate the source and help Pakistan grab the culprit instead of backing out of the tour.

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Is this email thread similar to the one England got during the world cup against Zimbabwe ?? NZ are becoming the cry babies of the cricketing world.

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** Pakistan threaten to pull out of New Zealand tour**](http://www-pak.cricket.org/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/NOV/003899_PAK_14NOV2003.html)

The Pakistan Cricket Board has reacted to doubts over New Zealand’s willingness to play five one-day internationals next week by threatening to pull out of their tour to New Zealand next month.

New Zealand are scheduled to play five one-day internationals in Pakistan, starting with the first game at Faisalabad on November 22, but the series has been cast into doubt after they received a threat regarding their safety.

However, Tauqir Zia, the PCB chairman, said “It is a policy decision that we will not go to New Zealand if they don’t come to play in Pakistan.”

Pakistan had earlier threatened to sue the South African board for US$ 7 million after they suddenly refused to tour Pakistan in September when a bomb exploded in an empty building in Karachi. However, the PCB agreed to revise the itinerary and excluded Karachi so that the South Africans could play five one-day internationals and two Tests in Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

However, it may prove more difficult to persuade New Zealand to come over. Their last tour of Pakistan in May last year was abandoned ahead of the last Test after a bomb exploded outside the players’ Karachi hotel, killing 14 people. This one-day series was planned as the replacement to help Pakistan recover from the losses.

A spokesman said: "The PCB won a case against New Zealand Cricket in the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee when Tauqir Zia pleaded that the Kiwis had not fulfilled their Future Tours Programme (FTP) commitment in 2002.

“The ICC Disputes Committee had ordered NZC to either compensate PCB or participate in a series in Pakistan. NZC had agreed to the five-match one-day series to avoid huge compensations that could have fetched the PCB millions of dollars”.

The PCB also termed the threatening letter to New Zealand as a hoax. “South Africa also received a similar hoax letter before coming to Pakistan,” said the spokesman, “but after we gave them all the security assurances they believed us and sent their team. We have passed the letter to the concerned authorities for further investigations”.

New Zealand are scheduled to play five one-day internationals on its short 12-day trip, with Faisalabad hosting the only day game on November 22. Rawalpindi is to host back-to-back day-night games on November 24 and 25 before the teams play the remaining two games at Lahore on Nov 29 and December 1.

Bilkul sahi ahi, aisay hee kero, way to go PCB :k:

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Finally PCB comes to senses. Tit for tat.

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Way to go PCB:jhanda:

so NZ is touring Pakistan rite??

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good n sensible move by PCB :k:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Changez_like: *
Finally PCB comes to senses. Tit for tat.
[/QUOTE]

If Pakistan adopts this tit-for-tat thing as a policy than it might have to remain content with playing cricket with Bangladesh.

food for thought : Is it NZ's fault that the security situation in Pak is bad ?.. and is it not correct that a bomb went off in front of their team hotel...killing 14 people...when the NZ players were about to board the team bus... If I was a NZ player, I would be scared too !!

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Some1, SA tour just finished, not a single pathakha blew off. India has agreed to come (not that it was blocked for security concerns but) it shows that other nations are not so concerned.

If they really have received email then they should help track down the sender and root out evil instead of running like a p-cat.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Changez_like: *
India has agreed to come ....it shows that other nations are not so concerned.

[/QUOTE]

That is only because Indian politicians think with their feet... they use cricket merely as a political tool... is it not surprising that not one Indian neta has voiced concern about possible security threat to the Indian players in Pak....this when the world knows that unlike NZ/SA, Indians do actually have a reason to feel insecure in Pak.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Some1: *

That is only because Indian politicians think with their feet... they use cricket merely as a political tool... is it not surprising that not one Indian neta has voiced concern about possible security threat to the Indian players in Pak....this when the world knows that unlike NZ/SA, Indians do actually have a reason to feel insecure in Pak.
[/QUOTE]

Actaully India should complain about security in Aus since they 're very likely to be massacred there ..... but wait this Some1 chap ain't so wrong once they (India) come back from that tour (Aus) which'll most probably leave deep scares on India they'll look for excuses to blow off the tour ...... i've seen two matches from the TVS-Series involving India and believe me they r far from their worldcup-form ..... Today NZ played like BD in their ODI's against ENG ..... bad bowling, fielding far below par etc. etc.

But nothing to take away from the Indian batting ...... it crushed the NZ-Bowling to all around the park which it actaully deserved

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Well all the hoax about SECURITY is an excuse which can’t stand since two tours passed without any minor incident involving any intl. cricketer or any intl. board member … If one talks about security then he/she should keep in mind that in India also there r lot incidents … just before NZ came to India in Mumbai i think a bomb went up killing a lot of ppl (if i remember right) … no one from NZ-players were offered to opt out if they feel unsecure going to India after that incident which wasn’t a minor one at all …

recently NZ decided against a practice session citing security concern (i don’t know which ground exactly) … all we heard or could read in the papers was a simple line about this … but once it comes to playing in Pakistan … almost everything is exaggerated and suddenly Greame Smith or Craig McMillan are quite sure that somewhere in Karachi there is a bearded young man just waiting for them to enter Pakistan to blow them up wit bomb he has tied up around his chest … what a BS :mad: :mad: …

only thing that matters and plays a vital role in the decision to tour a country nowadays is the financial-factor … India is a nation with the economy going up and up day by day + the huge number of customer u can sell cricket (and everything which belongs to it meanwhile considering the big market that India is) to …

so all the players especially from NZ, AUS or SA will be attractive for companies investing/esteblished in India for endorsement purposes … this is just one factor which all leading intl. player know … so it makes a lot easier to decide to opt out or not !!! (like alice in in wonder land … ok a bit exaggerated but sadly somehow true)
I guess as a leading intl. player u won’t find something similar in Pakistan will u ???

So it’s more about financial insecurity than the physical insecurity.

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Both in the South Africa and now NZ case, the reason these teams are reluctant to tour is quite obvious. SA played in England all summer and had to come to Pakistan for a month right after and now NZ has played in India for a month and has to come to Pakistan. Probably there players are sick and tired of touring and want to go home for a while. I can imaigne this must espeically be true for NZ, I could understand how gorras would feel after spending 2 straight months in the subcontinent.

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Fleming 'to miss Pakistan tour

Fleming has been struggling with an abdominal strain

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming has ruled himself out of the proposed tour of Pakistan because of an abdominal strain, according to reports.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported that Fleming - who missed New Zealand’s final match in the Tri-series against India and Australia with the strain - will stay at home to have treatment on the injury.

He joins Craig McMillan, Ian Butler, Scott Styris and Lou Vincent in opting out of the tour.

The visit was arranged following New Zealand’s abandonment of their tour in May 2000 after a bomb blast outside the team’s Karachi hotel.

In the absence of Fleming Chris Cairns is expected to lead New Zealand in the scheduled five one-day internationals, with the first match due to be played in Faisalabad on Saturday.

However, the tour has yet to get the final go-head because of threats against the New Zealand players.

A final decision on whether it will take place is expected from New Zealand Cricket on Tuesday.

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:smack:

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Revised schedule of NZ cricket tour announced
(Updated at 1540 PST)
KARACHI: New Zealand cricket team will begin its much awaited Pakistan tour from November 27, for which revised schedule of matches was announced on Monday.

The guest team will arrive in Lahore on Nov. 27 and will play its first match on Nov. 29. Second one dayer will be played in Lahore on First December.

Guests will play their third one day match on Dec. 3 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. While remaining two matches would be played in Rawalpindi on December 5 and 7.

Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk

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Looks like NZ are treating this tour as a necessary sacrifice to ensure Pakistan does not boycott their own NZ tour. Pakistan should protest at the string-bean side that is being sent over.

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I guess Jang has some inside sources as officialy PCB has not announced anything about where and when the matches will be played.

**New Zealand’s tour is rescheduled after security worries **

Wisden Cricinfo staff

November 17, 2003

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has agreed to reschedule New Zealand’s tour, which was due to start this week, after the tourists expressed their misgivings about travelling to Karachi at a time of heightened security fears there. The New Zealand squad was scheduled to arrive in Karachi on Nov 20, but will now arrive in Lahore on Nov 27.

**“At the moment, the PCB can only confirm that it has agreed to reschedule New Zealand’s tour to Pakistan,” a PCB spokesman told reporters. “We are in the process of completing the series details, which we hope to finalise by Tuesday afternoon. The PCB will make no further comment on the issue until Tuesday evening.” **

More to follow.

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

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:frowning:
I was planning to watch all the onedayers during my Eid holidays,
and now the match will start exactly after the Holidays end
:smack:
NZ’s are idiots

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If NZ sends their A team than I guess PAK record against them will just get better n better.