Five-nation intelligence alliance caused NZ cancellation of Pak tour

ISLAMABAD: The New Zealand government remains steadfast in its support of New Zealand Cricket's last-minute decision to abandon the Black Caps' tour of Pakistan, despite stinging criticism from Pakistan authorities and the wider cricket community.

NZC made the call to cancel the tour just minutes before the first ODI in Rawalpindi on Friday night, following intelligence of a security threat targeting the Black Caps.

According to international media, the intelligence came from Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The threat was deemed credible before the match, and led to phone calls between NZC and their counterparts at the Pakistan Cricket Board, and Pakistan and New Zealand Prime Ministers Imran Khan and Jacinda Ardern.

Within 12 hours of those conversations, the tour was cancelled. New Zealand had not toured Pakistan since 2003, due to long-held security concerns after a 2002 suicide bomb attack outside their Karachi hotel, while in 2009, the Sri Lanka team's bus was attacked in Lahore.

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson noted the threat was credible and action needed to be taken.

"As is normal in situations like this it is not possible or responsible to go into detail around the nature of these threats, but it was credible and had to be taken seriously. We support the decision made by NZ Cricket. They did so on the basis of security assessments, including by their own security advisors on the ground. There was a credible security threat and NZ Cricket has responded appropriately,” he said.