ICC fails to convince Kiwi players for Champions Trophy

Christchurch, New Zealand, Aug 15 (UNI) With security concerns looming large over Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Pakistan, the ICC's efforts to assuage the fears amongst Kiwi players to participate in the tournament went fruitless.

A detailed security briefing, by the ICC's task force here yesterday, attended by 22 contracted players along with team management and Cricket officials, was not enough to allay the safety and security of the New Zealand squad.

''Nothing I heard yesterday has allayed our concerns,'' Heath Mills, the executive manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association said, who was likely to be seen not convinced with the security measures of the ICC in Pakistan and will not be sending the team to attend the tornament.

Worried players also threw many questions at the ICC representatives, who had arrived from a security assessment in Pakistan in an effort to convince the side to travel, but the officials could sense that their efforts were unlikely to work.

''It was an interesting meeting, an active one,'' Mills said.

''It went for a while.'' The safety has now become the prime concern for every team, and the ICC is expecting similar concerns from Australia as well.

However, it seems that Mills was impressed with the detail of the safety outline, but was concerned how it would work in practice in a strife-torn country like Pakistan.

''There is no question about the effort put in by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan government, the security plans are outstanding,'' he said.

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