Kiwis cancel Pakistan tour

AUCKLAND, SEPT. 13. New Zealand's cricket tour of Pakistan was cancelled today over safety fears of attacks on Afghanistan following terrorist strikes in the United States, Radio New Zealand reported.

The radio report could not be immediately confirmed here as the New Zealand team was in Singapore for a stopover on its way to Pakistan.

Pakistani cricket officials had said on Wednesday that the New Zealand team had delayed its arrival in Pakistan by 48 hours over fears of attacks on neighboring Afghanistan.

But the Pakistani officials had expressed optimism that the tour would go ahead.

New Zealand's decision to postpone its tour was considered to be a major blow to PCB as it has not got any other team playing in Pakistan till next February, when the West Indies was expected to tour.

The Indian pullout reportedly caused a huge financial loss to PCB and New Zealand's decision was expected aggravate the losses.

In anticipation of the tour, PCB has already named its squad which was without fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who was dropped due to poor form.

``As soon as it became obvious that the risks were tangible rather than imagined, it was an easy decision to come home,'' New Zealand cricket chief executive Martin Snedden told AFP from Auckland.

Snedden also announced that the New Zealand `A' team had withdrawn from a tour of India. The two teams were going home immediately.

New Zealand cricket tour is the first international event believed to have fallen victim to security fears in the wake of the kamikaze-style attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

On the New Zealand cricket website, Snedden was quoted as saying: ``the safety of the players is our only consideration and, given the advice we have received from the department of foreign affairs, it is obvious we should bring the black caps home.

''We have advised the Pakistan Cricket Board of our decision and, with PCB, we will re-visit the possibility of some cricket during October, should we be satisfied that the situation has stabilised.``

PCB chief disappointed

The PCB Chief Rana expressed disappointment over the New Zealand pull-out.

''We are deeply disappointed over the postponement of the New Zealand team's tour of Pakistan but international events are beyond our reach, we can't help it,`` Rana said.

''The events are beyond our control but we hope that once the situation clears, we can manage to host New Zealand for a short tour,`` Rana said.

''Our cricketing venues are safe and the public never indulges in disturbances. It would be a great disappointment for them not to see good cricket,`` he explained.

''The problem is that New Zealand has another tour of Australia soon after the Pakistan tour so we will have to adjust to a short tour in a short period,`` he added.

- AFP

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