Security Beefed Up for NZ Women's Team in England After Threatening Mail

The New Zealand women's team are currently in England and have had their security increased.

New Zealand's women's cricket team sitting in their dressing room balcony in England.

Image: NZC

New Zealand Cricket have had to boost security around their women's cricket team who are touring England as a precaution after a threatening email was received by English officials.

NZC, who last week abruptly abandoned the men’s team’s tour of Pakistan due to security fears, said the latest threat was ultimately deemed "not credible".

However, the communication received by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) prompted a cranking up of the security around the visiting team, who are currently in in Leicester.

"The ECB have received a threatening email relating to NZC. Although this did not specifically reference the White Ferns, it was treated seriously, investigated and deemed not credible," the governing body said in a statement.

“The WHITE FERNS have now arrived in Leicester and, as a precaution, security around them has been boosted. Reports their training has been cancelled are false. They were not scheduled to train today as it was a travelling day. NZC will not be commenting further on the matter.”

The threat a day after the England cricket board decided to cancel their tour for the men and women’s teams to Pakistan next month, citing "increasing concerns about travelling to the region".

That decision came in the wake of the Black Caps' dramatic withdrawal from the Pakistan tour on Friday, just as the first one-day international was due to start at Rawalpindi Stadium.

According to Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Pakistan leader Imran Khan that the team feared an attack outside the stadium.

The England and New Zealand cancellations are a huge setback for Pakistan, which has been trying to revive tours by foreign sides after home internationals were suspended in the aftermath of a terror attack on the Sri Lankan side in 2009.

(with AFP inputs)