JOHANNESBURG, 16 February 2003 — New Zealand asked the sport’s governing body yesterday to switch their World Cup Group B match against Kenya from Nairobi to South Africa.
“The New Zealand board have reconfirmed their decision made on Jan. 31, which is not to allow the New Zealand team to travel to Nairobi for the match on Feb. 21,” New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Martin Snedden told Reuters by telephone yesterday.
“The team won’t go to Nairobi, we’ve advised the ICC (International Cricket Council) of this and we’ve confirmed that we are willing to play the game at an alternative venue in South Africa — at whatever date the ICC might determine.”
The request came on the same day that England were forced to forfeit their Group A match against Zimbabwe after tournament organizers rejected their security concerns over playing in Harare.
“From our point of view, there’s only one issue to consider in all of this and that is player safety. You can’t allow yourself to be deviated in any other direction,” Snedden added.
New Zealand have had security concerns over playing the Group B match in Kenya since a November bombing killed 16 people in Mombasa.
Snedden added that the NZC had relied on recent assessments made by an independent security expert, the South African police and a representative from Kroll, an international risk consulting company which has worked on behalf of the ICC. (R)
