Pakistan's plans for a three-match Champions Trophy warm-up series later this month have fallen through after New Zealand turned down the opportunity, an official said Wednesday. It is the latest blow to cricket-starved Pakistan, which also saw a four-nation Twenty20 event in Canada scheduled from August 14-17 postponed.
"We have not received any positive reply from New Zealand Cricket and heavy rains in Punjab (province) where the three matches were planned did not make the series a possibility," Pakistan Cricket Board operating officer Shafqat Naghmi told AFP.
New Zealand were pencilled in to play in Multan (August 24) and Faisalabad (August 27 and 30) to give both teams some practice ahead of the eight-nation Champions Trophy, which Pakistan hosts from September 12-28. The biennial Champions Trophy is also under doubt over security concerns raised by Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is sending a taskforce to these countries to convince them to tour Pakistan.Pakistan has been short of international cricket after Australia postponed their tour of the country over security fears in March this year.
Efforts by the PCB to lure India, Sri Lanka and South Africa for short tours have all fallen through. Since a tour of India last year, Pakistan have only featured in low-profile home series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, and featured in a three-nation event in Bangladesh and the six-nation Asia Cup - all one-day matches.