Cricket: NZC stays firm on no-show in Kenya

By RICHARD BOOCK at the World Cup

New Zealand Cricket has reconfirmed its decision not to play its World Cup game against Kenya in Nairobi.

The move threatens drastic consequences for the team's tournament hopes, not to mention the national body's coffers.

Chief executive Martin Snedden said in Johannesburg yesterday that his organisation had taken an open mind in reviewing its decision over the past week.

But it could not afford to compromise player safety and security.

The announcement follows the January 31 decision not to send the side to Nairobi.

NZC says terrorism in the Kenyan city is a threat to players.



Although NZC will continue to work with the ICC over the possibility of rescheduling the fixture, it now seems almost certain the match will not be played, and the four points will be awarded to Kenya.

It also appears increasingly likely that NZC will face financial consequences, possibly amounting to a multi-million-dollar penalty, for defying the ICC's edict to play the game in Kenya.

Snedden said that establishing whether NZC had any liability in the matter would be a lengthy process, and his organisation would be doing its best to prove its decision was justified.

"It's too early to quantify the full extent of the liability - if any - but in a worst-case scenario it will be measured in millions rather than hundreds of thousands," he said.

NZC's decision against travelling to Kenya came the same day that England officially forfeited their group A match against Zimbabwe, after the ICC's rejection of their request to have the game moved from Harare.

In the space of six hours, the tournament shrank from 54 to 52 games.

Snedden said it was recognised that the two issues had nothing in common.

One involved solely player safety and security, the other the political considerations of playing in Zimbabwe, as well as the associated dangers for protesters and spectators.

"Throughout the entire process there's been only one issue in my view, and that's been safety and security," he said.

"It's been impossible to ignore outside pressures such as the impact on our side's tournament hopes, the exposure to financial penalties and the possible damage to our relationship with other nations and the ICC.

"But ultimately, none of those points were relevant to our primary consideration."

Snedden said NZC security consultant Reg Dickason, a member of the initial delegation to Kenya, had flown to South Africa to further assess the threat in light of new reports and a move to improve security procedures in Nairobi.

He believed yesterday's decision was as accurate as it could be in the circumstances, and said most people consulted agreed a genuine security risk existed.

"In our view, there's a risk to player safety that's too high, and we've not really changed our mind on that, despite the extra information, meetings and reports that we've assessed."

Snedden said it was important that the decision was made by NZC on behalf of the players, who could not be expected to put aside their tournament ambitions at a time when the group stage was beginning to take shape in terms of qualification and elimination.

He conceded that New Zealand's isolated position in the world, and the fact it had no experience with common borders and international terrorism conflicts, had been a factor that all parties had grappled with throughout the process.

But that did not change the fact that NZC had to draw the line somewhere.

"There's a feeling in this part of the world [South Africa] that last year's bombing in Karachi made us more vulnerable to this sort of thing, but I don't accept that.

"It's made us focus on the issue and take it much more seriously than might have been the case in previous years.

"To my mind, proof of the fact we're not gun-shy came last year when we travelled to the Champions tournament in Sri Lanka, a place which has provided some security concerns for us in the past.

"On that occasion, we looked into it, assessed the information and decided the risks were manageable."

He said NZC's relationship with the ICC and member nations was still healthy, and he remained hopeful that the World Cup organisers would reschedule the match in South Africa.

"We've told the ICC that we're prepared to play the match on whatever date and at whatever venue outside Kenya they decide, even if it ends up with the team playing back-to-back games."

As for the financial penalties, he said that if NZC failed to justify its position on not travelling to Nairobi, the repercussions would be felt throughout New Zealand cricket.

"The ultimate result is that if NZC receives less than expected from the World Cup, then the brunt of that shortfall will be borne by everyone in NZC - including the players."

The ICC yesterday said the request for a transfer would be resolved "over the coming days."

World Cup schedule

Points table