Internet Desk: New Zealand Cricket on Monday confirmed that the test series against Pakistan will go ahead as per its schedule. According to New Zealand Cricket , it was business as usual and both tours by the Pakistan men’s and women’s teams would continue as scheduled, after reassuring their visitors that accommodation and match venues in Christchurch and Nelson were unscathed after the 7.5 magnitude quake.
Pakistan men’s team will take on the Black Caps in the first test at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on Thursday, while their women’s side face the White Ferns in the fourth one-day international at Nelson’s Saxton Oval the same day.
The Pakistan team was in a Nelson hotel when the quake struck around midnight and coach Mickey Arthur said the team was rattled in the moment in the “scary” event.
It is understood some Pakistan players were reluctant to return to the sixth and seventh floors of their Nelson hotel afterwards and instead found places to sleep on the ground floor.
It was not a new experience for former Pakistan captain Younis Khan. The 38 year old batsman faced a similar experience during the 2010 tour when a massive earthquake rocked Christchurch during the Boxing Day test.
“These kinds of incidents make nations. Everybody comes together to contribute [to the recovery]… it is a testing time,” said Younis.
Some Black Caps were affected, too, before they assembled in Christchurch to prepare for Thursday’s test match. Trent Boult and Kane Williamson were understood to have evacuated their Mt Maunganui homes in the early hours due to the tsunami warning and had to find alternative accommodation.
The earthquake came on the top of Pakistan’s abandoned three-day fixture with New Zealand A, scheduled for Saxton Oval, which was finally called off early on Sunday without a ball being bowled.
And while a frustrating time for Younis and his team-mates, he hadn’t been put off the notion of perhaps returning to Nelson one day.
Pakistan manager Wasim Bari told ESPNCricinfo they first felt tremors around 11.30pm.
“Some of the boys were in prayer, some were watching the India-England test on TV when we felt the windows shake. The whole room began to shake,” he said.
“We were on the sixth and seventh floor, and evacuated immediately. The hotel staff was very helpful. We are all safe.”