New Zealand pull out of Zimbabwe tour

New Zealand want to postpone their already rearranged tour of Zimbabwe until 2011 or play it in a neutral venue due to the security situation in the African country. The side was due to tour last year but rescheduled the trip for June 2010 and Justin Vaughan, New Zealand's chief executive, said the situation had not improved.

"It is clear from our recent discussions that the government's assessment of the security situation in Zimbabwe has not changed from that of a year ago, when the scheduled tour was postponed," Vaughan said.

He has told Zimbabwe Cricket of the decision and asked for the matches to be postponed again. "We have a possible window for the rescheduling of the tour next year in May/June," Vaughan said. "The other option is that we look at playing the scheduled tour in a neutral venue."

The prime minister John Key said the main concern was for player safety. "They are the major issues when we last looked at this issue about a year ago," he said.

Key said although some progress appeared to have been made in the political situation in Zimbabwe, there were still concerns. New Zealand last toured Zimbabwe in 2005 for two Tests and a one-day tri-series.