Tour of Pakistan 2002                    Captain : Stephen Fleming

   Tour Abandoned

43rd official Test tour.

Eighth Test-playing  tour of England by New Zealand

 (April - May 2001)

The tour had been due to take place in September and October 2001, but was postponed following the September 11 attacks in New York. Pakistan promised “foolproof” security for the tourists to reschedule the tour and the interior ministry guaranteed the visitors safe exit in the event of a security alert.

Pakistan made a clean sweep in the series of three one-day internationals. During the third match 26-year-old Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar bowled at more than 100 mph, and he destroyed New Zealand in the first Test at Lahore with a six for 11 spell. However, as the teams were about to leave their hotels for the second Test a bomb blast killed 15 people outside their Karachi hotel. The bomber’s target was a navy bus carrying French defence technicians helping build two submarines at the dockyard. None of the tour party was seriously hurt although NZ physiotherapist Dayle Shackel received a minor cut to his forearm from flying glass.

The New Zealanders felt that the Pakistan Government and the PCB had done everything reasonably possible to protect their players during the tour, and none of the cricketers was injured, but it was the last time New Zealand toured Pakistan. Cancelling the remainder of the tour cause financial losses for the Pakistan Board which has already lost nearly £7m  in potential revenue since September 11.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Australia 2001-02

Next tour

West Indies 2001-02

Next tour of Pakistan 

None

Members of the Test tour party (14  + 2)

Opening batsmen  Mark Richardson, Matthew Horne

Middle-order batsmen  Lou Vincent, Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming, Craig McMillan (Matthew Sinclair  and Scott Styris - reinforcements).

Wicket-keepers  Robbie Hart

All-rounder:  Andre Adams, Chris Harris.

Spin bowlers  Daniel Vettori, Brooke Walker

Fast bowlers  Chris Martin, Ian Butler, Daryl Tuffey.

Provincial representation

A - Auckland (4)

C - Canterbury (4)

CD - Central Districts (0)

ND - Northern Districts (4)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(1 May 2002) :  27 yrs  0 months.

ODI member of Sharjah Cup one-day squad

Test Appearances made before the tour

Fleming 68,  Astle 53,  McMillan 39,  Vettori 39,  Horne 32,  Harris 20,  Richardson 17,  Martin 10,  Tuffey 8,  Vincent 6,  Walker 4,  Butler 2,  Adams 1,  Hart 0,  Styris 0  Sinclair.

Team Officials

Selectors

Sir Richard Hadlee (chairman),  Ross Dykes,  Brian McKechnie  and  Denis Aberhart.

Selection

Unavailable:  Adam Parore (retired after the home Test series against England); Dion Nash (back and hip injuries - a month later he retired from cricket);  Shane Bond (stress fracture of foot);  Shayne O’Connor (recovering from knee operation); Chris Drum (announced his retirement at end of the home Test series because he was moving to London);  Martin Croy (injured); Chris Cairns (after his knee tendon operation, he then suffered a different knee injury in March, which ended his home season)

Test tour party announced :  31 March 2002.

On standby (Tests): Mathew Sinclair, Lance Hamilton (CD), James Franklin and Glen Sulzberger.

The one-day squad for Sharjah and Pakistan was announced on the same date

Daniel Vettori was still recovering from a back injury and not fit for the one-dayers in Sharjah and Pakistan. He was held back for the Tests and selected subject to fitness.

On standby (one-days)   Mathew Sinclair, Glen Sulzberger, Matthew Hart

Withdrawal: Lou Vincent (bruising of the chest and airway) was advised not to fly so Sinclair came in for the ODIs.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  x days

(31 March to c 3 April)

Travel

?  Q Dubai

Dubai  Q  Karachi

On 5 March New Zealand Cricket confirmed that they were willing to tour Pakistan in April and May.  The home Test series with England ended on 3 April.  

The New Zealand team travelled to Dubai to play in the Sharjah Cup tri-series arriving on Sunday 7 April. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan (who had led a depleted New Zealand side in Sharjah in April 2001) arrived later on that evening.  The Sharjah matches ended on 17 April 2002.

From Sharjah they travelled to Pakistan.

After they arrived in Karachi on 18 April under heavy guard, New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming and manager Ross Dykes said safety fears in Pakistan would not.affect their team’s performance.

Lou Vincent missed the Sharjah matches and, with Robbie Hart, flew direct to Pakistan, leaving New Zealand on Thursday 18 April.

Time spent in Pakistan

   20 days

(18 April - 8 May)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

ADDED ▷     Sinclair, Styris, Drum

◁ W/D   Astle, Oram, Adams

Matthew Sinclair took Lou Vincent’s place in the Sharjah matches after Vincent suffered a rupture in his left airway. Chris Nevin strained his hamstring at practice so Robbie Hart joined the tour a week earlier than intended to reinforce the one-day squad in Pakistan.

After the first one-dayer Nathan Astle was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a suspected torn tendon in his left knee cap.  He flew home to be replaced by Matthew Sinclair who flew out again to rejoin the side on Friday 27 April.

Three one-day players (Oram, Styris, and Franklin) were replaced for the Test series by Chris Martin, Daniel Vettori and Mark Richardson.

Scott Styris was retained after the one-day series (Jacob Oram would have been added to the Test team had he not suffered a side strain and returned home early injured).  Styris was capped for his Test debut the night before the Karachi Test only for the match to be cancelled

All-rounder Andre Adams returned home after suffering a back stress fracture in the first Test.  Leg-spinner Brooke Walker then suffered a dislocated finger in the left hand but he remained on tour.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test: 

13 days

(18 April - 1 May)

Test appearances on tour

1  -   Fleming,  Harris,  Hart,  Horne,  Martin,  McMillan,  Richardson,  Tuffey,  Vettori,  Vincent,  Walker

0  -   Adams,  Astle,  Butler,  Sinclair,  Styris.

Highlights

• 

•  During the third ODI Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was clocked at 161 kph, a fraction over 100 mph.

•  Lou Vincent (57) and skipper Stephen Fleming (66) made battling half-centuries in the innings defeat at Lahore

• 

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

KarachiQ Auckland

Nathan Astle and Jacob Oram returned home injured on 25 April.

Chris Nevin and James Franklin departed after the one-day series on the evening of Monday 30 April.

New Zealand were scheduled to leave on 13 May but the tour was abandoned on Wednesday 8 May.

That evening the team returned from Karachi, making a stopover at Singapore, while the manager Jeff Crowe left on an Emirates flight to Dubai and Frankfurt later. He was accompanied by the ICC officials Mike Procter, Rudi Koertzen Steve Bucknor and team physio Dayle Shackel.

The team landed at Auckland on Friday 10 May, where Fleming gave a press conference.

Time away from New Zealand    x days  

(depart NZ to 10 May)

Finances

Cancelling the remainder of the tour cause financial losses for the Pakistan Board which has already lost nearly £7m  in potential revenue since 11 September.

Next tour of Pakistan

The New Zealanders fulfilled a one-day international  obligation in Lahore/Rawalpindi at the end of their Indian Test tour in 2003 but have not been back to play Test matches in Pakistan.