New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Tuesday boosted security around the women’s national team currently touring Britain as a precaution after a threatening email was received by English officials ahead of the third ODI between the Black Caps and the English.
NZC, which last week abruptly abandoned the Black Caps’ tour of Pakistan over security fears for the men’s team, said the latest threat was ultimately deemed “not credible”.
But it said the communication received by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) prompted increased security around the White Ferns women’s team, which is due to play England in Leicester on Tuesday.
“The ECB have received a threatening email relating to NZC. Although this did not specifically reference the White Ferns, it was treated seriously, investigated and deemed not credible,” the governing body said in a statement.
“The White Ferns have now arrived in Leicester and, as a precaution, security around them has been boosted.”
The threat came as English cricket chiefs withdrew their men’s and women’s teams from next month’s white-ball series in Pakistan, citing “increasing concerns about travelling to the region”.
That decision came in the wake of the Black Caps’ dramatic withdrawal from the Pakistan tour on Friday, just as the first one-day international was due to start at Rawalpindi Stadium.
NZC has refused to detail what prompted the action beyond saying it had been advised of a “specific and credible threat”.
According to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Prime Minister leader Imran Khan that the team feared an attack outside the stadium.—AFP
