Cricket: NZ withdraw from Zimbabwe tour

NZ Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan. Photo / Getty Images

The New Zealand cricket team will not tour Zimbabwe as scheduled in June.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan said the decision had met little resistance from Zimbabwe.

The primary reasons for pulling out of the tour were the collapse of Zimbabwe's health system and the general unstable environment in that country.

Vaughan said he was open to the tour being rescheduled and played at a neutral venue, possibly in June next year.

"It was a decision made with the Government but we are looking at other options like playing the tour at a neutral venue, most likely South Africa," he told the Dominion Post newspaper.

Prime Minister John Key said NZC had made the decision without Government involvement, when asked about the cancellation on NewstalkZB this morning.

- NZPA