ISLAMABAD – The New Zealand cricket board has given a blow to Pakistan’saspirations of holding a bilateral series in Pakistan.

New Zealand to declined the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) invitation tothe Black Caps to play a three-match Twenty20 series in Pakistan, NewZealand’s *NewsHublinkreported on Tuesday.

The Kiwis are set to play three Tests, three One Day Internationals andthree T20 matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) inOctober 2018.

The PCB, however, had attempted to convince NZ for home series to hold theT20s in Pakistan but the foreign cricket board declined, saying the”circumstances weren’t right” for the team.

NZ Cricket Chairman Greg Barclay told *NewsHub* that although the board wasaware that its decision would be “disappointing” for the PCB, they hadopted against it.ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

“At the end of the day, it came down to following the advisory and thesecurity reports we’d obtained,” he said.

“There’s no doubt they (PCB) are disappointed. I think they saw a tour by acountry like New Zealand as being a great precedent for them to start tobuild an international programme back in Pakistan,” Barclay added. “Sothey’re disappointed but they’re good guys, we get on really well withPakistan, and I think they’re fully accepting of the decision that we’vereached.”