New Zealand call off Pak tour after Lahore attack

Wellington: New Zealand Cricket officials said they expect to cancel this year's scheduled tour of Pakistan and play the series in a neutral venue in the wake of Tuesday's attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

NZC Chief Executive Justin Vaughan told a New Zealand radio station on Wednesday the tour, scheduled for November and December, would not go ahead after six Sri Lanka players were wounded and eight Pakistanis killed when gunmen fired on the team bus on Tuesday.

"The tour has been called off," Vaughan told the radio station.

"We are not going, I think that's pretty clear. I don't think any international team will be going to Pakistan in the foreseeable future," he said.

Shortly after, Vaughan released a statement, partly backtracking on his earlier comments, saying no official decision had yet been made.

Vaughan said the tour was unlikely to go ahead but New Zealand officials needed to consult with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) before confirming any cancellation.

"Given the tragic events of yesterday and the comments from the ICC, staging our tour in Pakistan in November-December would appear very unlikely, but there is no final decision as yet," the statement read.

"We will discuss the security issue with the Pakistan Cricket Board at the next ICC meeting, and we are likely to look at options such as the use of neutral venues," it read.

Vaughan said the most likely place to reschedule the series would be Dubai or Abu Dhabi after Pakistan recently agreed to switch matches against Australia there.

"They have played previous games in the Gulf States, in Abu Dhabi, and we'd want to assess Pakistan's thinking about that," Vaughan said in the earlier radio interview.

Cup doubt?

Tuesday's attack has also raised serious questions about the future of the 2011 World Cup, which is due to be co-hosted by Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The World Cup has been awarded on an unofficial rotational basis for the past decade and Australia and New Zealand were next in line to stage the 2011 event.

The two countries launched a joint bid but lost to the powerful Asian bloc, who have been demanding the ICC award every third World Cup to Asia because they have four of the 10 Test-playing nations.

Australia and New Zealand were awarded the 2015 World Cup as consolation but Vaughan said he still wanted the 2011 event to proceed in Asia.

"You can't say cricket won't take place in Asia, it would kill the game because four of the eight countries we play serious cricket against are based out of there," Vaughan said.

"You can't just say it's a no-go zone, I think we need to think pretty carefully. Player security is something we won't compromise on, but in terms of how and when events are scheduled in that region, I guess we got to think pretty long and hard. It's too early to talk about re-allocating Cricket World Cup 2011," he added.