New Zealand cricket chiefs on Monday backed the idea of fundraising matches for flood-ravaged Pakistan but ruled out the prospect of the Black Caps travelling there. Reports from Pakistan indicated New Zealand had offered to play there to raise funds for flood victims, but New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said his message to the Pakistan Cricket Board had been misconstrued.
Asked PCB to organise fund raisers outside the country "At no point did we offer that the Black Caps would be touring as they certainly won't be playing there this year," Vaughan said. "But it would be nice to think that in a cricket-loving country such as Pakistan that cricket could play a part in alleviating some of the suffering that is going on there." International cricket came to an abrupt end in Pakistan in March last year after a terror attack on the touring Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
The near month-long floods in Pakistan have killed 1,500 people and affected up to 20 million nation-wide in the country's worst natural disaster. But with foreign cricket teams not prepared to play in the country because of security concerns, Vaughan said it was up to the Pakistan Cricket Board to organise fundraisers outside the country.
New Zealand Cricket Players' Association manager Heath Mills backed the idea of cricket to raise money, but added: "But at this point in time there is no way anyone can consider putting a cricket team into Pakistan to play." He added that he did not envisage the Black Caps going to Pakistan "in the short term".
Comments
Comments are closed.