Will try to resume series, make up for loss, says CEO NZC

ISLAMABAD: New Zealand Cricket CEO David White Sunday said they would try to resume the T20 series after its cancellation in Pakistan and to make up for the loss.

“The advice changed, the threat level changed. We were advised this was a specific and credible threat against the team,” White said. "Specific details could not, and will not, be disclosed —privately or publicly," he said in a statement released by the NZC.

He admitted that the board was initially satisfied with security arrangements in Pakistan, which is why they sent their team to the country. New Zealand made headlines around the world when the cricket team called off its ODI and T20 series minutes before the toss for the first ODI between the two sides was scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi.

The New Zealand team had arrived in Pakistan after 18 years to play a cricket series. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a letter and virtual briefing with the media on Sunday said the PCB would not sit idle and accept the Kiwis government’s decision to pull out of the tour unless they share the threat content by holding a meeting between the security officials concerned.

Wasim Khan said PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja had written the letter to his NZC counterpart. “PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja has written a letter to the NZC and I am demanding through this media conference that the Kiwis must share the threat content they received with our security experts so the intensity of that could be judged. So far, I can only confirm that I received a call at 3am Friday, September 17, the day when first ODI was scheduled, with head of security consultant R Dickason informing me that a report had landed on the NZ government desk through their security agencies that there is a serious threat to NZ team and that the threat was direct and imminent on that particular day. The threat came from ‘Five Eyes’ alliance (USA, England, Australia, Canada and NZ) and reached NZ high officials. Pakistan, having the top resources in intelligence agencies, rejects any such threat. To our huge disappointment, nothing has been shared with us as yet.”

Wasim was critical of NZ’s ‘disrespectful decision’ to pull out the team in such circumstances, reacting to ‘The News’ question that they had left, “at the drop of hat and leaving us to pick up the pieces.”

The decision taken by the New Zealand government has set a very dangerous precedent where countries have started taking unilateral decisions without taking the second party into confidence.

“We expect some dialogue between ours security agencies. Had that information been shared with us there and then, we were in a position to make clear to the NZ government as to what we could do to mitigate that. Everything was going on smoothly with the teams regularly training at the Pindi Stadium before such a decision was taken”

The CEO admitted that the NZ government’s decision had left many questions unanswered and gaps unfulfilled. “NZ Board’s one-sided decision has left us with no choice but to look seriously at the credibility of such boards’ decision. This decision has affected our cricketing credibility.”

“At this point of time no one knows exactly what kind of threats these were and why sitting thousand miles away the NZ government has taken such a decision without realising the ground realities and implication such a pull out would be having on the future of international cricket. At this point of time no one knows exactly what kind of threats were there and why sitting thousand miles away the NZ government has taken such a decision without realising the ground realities and implications such a pull out would have on the future of international cricket.”

The PCB CEO hoped that since there was no serious threat and no change in advisory level, England men and women’s teams would take a tour to Pakistan next month. “From security perspective there is a clean chit. We hope for a positive response from the ECB as nothing has changed. If teams could take a tour of Bangladesh in the wake of a serious bomb blast, we also expect a positive response with nothing happening here. We hope that in wake of tight security we have offered to all our guests including the Royal couple last year, ECB would go ahead with the tour.”

Since the unsporting decision taken by the NZ Board, the PCB has approached other cricketing nations to take up the tour. “Bangladesh and Sri Lanka teams that are to play qualifying rounds are willing to come. But the time is too short now before the World Cup T20 as they are to be in Oman within the next few weeks to play the qualifying round and we also have England to host. So practically it is difficult to adjust these tours before the mega event.”

Wasim ruled out boycotting playing against New Zealand in the World Cup. “We would fulfill the ICC obligations as we continue and believe in good relations with the cricketing fraternity around. We have struggled hard to bring international cricket back to Pakistan all these years so we would not sit in peace till the time we reach bottom of this disrespectable decision taken by the NZ Board.

This inequality has to stop in world cricket. Every human being’s life is important. We could have taken any decision following terrorists’ attacks on mosques in New Zealand also involving Bangladesh players. Yet we dared and took the tour to New Zealand.”