12.30pm
By MARK GEENTY
New Zealand's bleary-eyed cricket team were given an armed escort along closed roads as they began their short tour of Pakistan amid unprecedented security here today.
The tourists ended a 36-hour journey from New Zealand with a bus trip along deserted, mist-shrouded streets as they rolled into their plush hotel soon after 3am local time (11am NZT).
The tour squad of 15, accompanied by New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden and security manager Reg Dickason, were met by a crowd of around 500 at the airport.
They shuffled through a cordon of armed guards, past a host of television cameras and heard shouts from a crowd of well-wishers in chilly winter temperatures as low as 5degC.
The team bus was led by a three-vehicle motorcade packed with armed police, flanked by motorbikes carrying two armed guards each.
Each intersection was blocked off as the bus passed.
The 30-minute trip was uneventful and the team were ushered to their rooms, with three guards at either end of their hotel wing.
It is the first visit to Pakistan by the New Zealand team since they fled Karachi in May last year after a fatal bomb blast outside their hotel.
Just four of that side are back this time -- vice-captain Daniel Vettori, Chris Harris, Daryl Tuffey and Mathew Sinclair.
The New Zealanders received an emailed threat two weeks ago should they tour Pakistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which ended earlier this week.
The tour was delayed a week to ease the minds of the players, although Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Lou Vincent and Ian Butler stood firm on their decision not to tour.
Harris said the team had accepted assurances that they would be safe and there were few nerves on the bus.
"It's pretty intense and it's obviously nice to get into the hotel after a couple of days travelling," Harris told NZPA.
"There's security everywhere you go, there's people following you with guns. But it's something you get used to and you've just to get on with it and do what we're here to do.
"We're excited, it's a unique opportunity. It's not often you arrive in a country the day before a one-day international then you've got a day in between each match."
The first match of the five-match series crammed into nine days is at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium tomorrow (7pm NZT).
There are seven newcomers to one-day international cricket in the New Zealand squad, with top-order batsmen Richard Jones, Craig Cumming and Hamish Marshall all likely to debut tomorrow.
Coach Ashley Ross said the team would be named early tomorrow (NZT) after the team's only training session under lights at Gaddafi Stadium.
All 15 were available for selection, despite several players including pacemen Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram still recovering from a mystery illness from the just-completed India tour.
- NZPA
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Sport
live
Crusaders cruising against Rebels
Follow the action as the Crusaders host the Rebels in Christchurch.