Pakistan says tour aborted too soon

By RICHARD BOOCK

Feeling is running high in Pakistan over New Zealand's decision to flee the country within hours of a suicide bombing in Karachi.

The New Zealanders are scheduled to arrive back in Auckland this morning after aborting the tour on Wednesday and catching the first available flight out of the country.

The decision to leave was made within two hours of the explosion and has evidently raised questions in Pakistan about New Zealand's commitment to play the second test.

Up to that stage, the tourists had been whitewashed in the one-day internationals and suffered their biggest test defeat at Lahore less than a week before.

Pakistan Cricket Board director Munawar Rana told the Herald last night that there was a school of thought which believed the New Zealand team had acted too hastily on Wednesday, and had subsequently jeopardised future tours to the subcontinent.

"There is certainly a feeling over here that the New Zealanders should have waited a day before they made any decision and that they could have played a shortened match, if only to honour their commitment to the game," he said.

Rana said the fallout from the New Zealanders' decision would have grave financial ramifications for the Pakistan board because it made it easier for other countries to reconsider their touring plans.

The Australian Cricket Board had already reacted cautiously about its team's scheduled tour to Pakistan in October and promised to continue monitoring events before making a final decision nearer the departure date.

"It will now take a lot of effort to convince the International Cricket Council or other cricket boards to play in Pakistan," Rana said. "The PCB did everything possible in terms of security, but there are certain circumstances we can't control. It was just a moment of madness."

Estimates of the financial losses incurred by the Pakistan board since the terror attacks on September 11 hover around the US$10 million ($22.5 million) mark, most of it caused by New Zealand's and the West Indies' reluctance to tour.

New Zealand were initially expected to play a series comprising three tests and five one-day internationals last September, and the West Indies agreed to play Pakistan only after the series in February was transferred to Sharjah.

Rana said both decisions had serious financial consequences for his board and he repeated his concern that the latest action could be seen as a precedent for future tours.

The last full series Pakistan hosted was against England at the end of 2000.

"The idea of playing at a neutral venue was not a success," Rana said of the series against the West Indies.

"In fact, it was a very poor second option and led to us losing about 70 to 80 per cent of our usual revenue.

"As for the New Zealanders, we have now missed out on playing two home tests against them and I hope that at some stage in the near future we'll have a chance to replay those matches."

For all that, Rana said the PCB understood and respected the decision made by the New Zealand team and did not share the view that they had acted prematurely in leaving.

But he said he hoped New Zealand cricketers would not turn their back on Pakistan or withdraw their support for touring at such a vulnerable time for his board.

"If there was one message I could convey to the New Zealand people it would be this: please look at both sides of the story.

"Don't jump to conclusions and please, try to understand what we're going through."

Pakistan are scheduled to host New Zealand and Australia for a tri-nations one-day series between August 27 and September 7 before taking on Australia in their three-test series between October 1 and 24.