New Zealand Cricket has confirmed it's considering playing a series in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years.
Gadaffi Stadium Lahore. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
At an Interntional Cricket Council meeting in India last week Pakistan asked New Zealand if they would play a T20 series in Pakistan rather than the United Arab Emirates.
New Zealand haven't played in Pakistan since 2003 because of security concerns and the UAE has become the home base for Pakistan.
The Black Caps abandoned their last test tour of Pakistan in 2002 after a bomb exploded outside their Karachi hotel although they did play a one day series there in 2003.
New Zealand are scheduled to play tests and one dayers against Pakistan in November but New Zealand Cricket spokesperson Richard Boock says these will still be played in the UAE.
Boock says they are considering the Pakistan request.
"NZC has received a request from the PCB chairman for New Zealand to play in Pakistan.
"At the moment NZC is doing due diligence on the request and consulting with security providers, the government, and the players.
"We will respond to the PCB when this process has been completed."
Pakistan will host Australia for three Test matches and a T-20 match in UAE in October followed by a series of three Tests, five One-Day-Internationals and three T-20 internationals in November against New Zealand.
Australia has also been asked to play a game in Pakistan in October.
Last year Sri Lanka play a T20 game in Lahore.
But the New Zealand Cricket Players Association said recent games in Pakistan doesn't necessarily indicate the security risk in the country has eased.
The Pakistan T20 Super League has also featured several foreign players over the past three years.
The chief executive Heath Mills said a decision on touring or not must be made independently of what has happened recently.
"The players are very good at playing cricket but they are certainly not security experts," he said.
"We need to understand what's happening there and get information about security plans and the risks involved."
-RNZ
