The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Wednesday it will help New Zealand's visiting Black Caps keep a cool head next month by installing air conditioners in their changing rooms. PCB chief Lt-Gen Tauqir Zia has ordered the units to be installed at Karachi's National Stadium before the two-Test and three one-day international tour, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). The air conditioners will be the first for the stadium since it opened in 1954-55.

New Zealand Cricket officials asked for the air conditioning to help their team adjust to Karachi's steamy heat. They also requested tubs of ice for the dressing rooms. But the Pakistan team has not been given the cold shoulder with air conditioners also being installed in the home changing room.

New Zealand are due to arrive from Sharjah on April 18 and the tour begins on April 21. They will play day-night one-dayers in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore, and Tests in Lahore and Karachi.

The tour was originally postponed following the September 11 terror attacks on the United States and the resulting war in Afghanistan.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd