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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will conduct a 'postmortem' of the home series against New Zealand that ended in anti-climax last Wednesday.

The director of the PCB Brig Munawar Rana said from Rawalpindi Sunday that the top hierarchy of the board, under the chairmanship of Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, will put the tour under microscope Monday morning.

"We will discuss in depth the issues that might arise in days to come in the ramifications of the bomb blast just outside the Pakistan and New Zealand team hotel," he said, adding: "We will naturally take some important decisions."

The 3-5 kilogram bomb went off minutes before both the teams were to leave for the National Stadium for the start of the second and final cricket Test. The blast left 14 killed and 22 injured.

The Black Caps immediately aborted the tour and returned home 12 hours later. But their discerning taken decision left question marks on Pakistan hosting international teams in the near future. Pakistan is to host Australia and New Zealand between Aug 27 and Sept 7 for a tri-nation one-day series before taking on Australia in the three-Test series between Oct 1 and 24.

There is a feeling, though in minority, that the visitors could have stayed back for a day or two, analysed the situation and if possible played a shortened version of the game before actually returning home.

The supporters of this theory have cited the examples of 1972 Munich Olympics, where Palestinians killed Israelis in the Olympic village, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where a bomb blew a little distance away from the main arena. Both the mega events carried on uninterrupted though security was tightened.

A couple of weeks back in Madrid, a powerful bomb explosion left three killed and 15 injured but the European Champions League semifinal tie between Barcelona and Real Madrid went ahead a few hours later.

The New Zealanders themselves completed the tour to Sri Lanka in 1992-93 and last year when bombs exploded not far away from where they were lodged on the island. But the PCB director was not willing to get involved in the debate and rightly so because of the sensitivity of the incident and his position.

"I understand their decision of aborting the tour," he said. But he repeated that the PCB was "a victim of circumstances. We have been praised by the New Zealand Cricket and their security manager Reg Dickason who have appreciated the security we provided to them throughout the tour. But the act of madness is just beyond PCB's control."

The official said during the meeting, the PCB would also deliberate on its future line of action though he refused to indulge himself if Pakistan was ready to take its two forthcoming event events on a neutral territory.

He added that the financial position of the PCB would also be discussed and the concerned authorities will brief the chairman on the exact figure of the losses. Initially, the PCB expected that they had lost something around $3.5million after the cancellation of the second Test.

The PCB is expected to once again launch an austerity drive and will look into areas where the expenses will be curtailed so that the funds can be better utilised in the departments that need more attention.

Rana said he has received messages of sympathies from other Test playing countries who have assured their cooperation in the times ahead.

The PCB official expressed satisfaction at his staff who worked with him tirelessly during the crisis situation on Wednesday morning. He said all the senior officials and liaison officers did a commendable job.

He had a special word of thanks for New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe who, according to Rana, collected the daily allowances and refunded to the PCB.

© Dawn