Guptill expresses disappointment at Pakistan cancellation over security threat

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill has labelled the cancellation of their tour of Pakistan last month "disappointing".

The tour was scrapped at the last minute, with New Zealand Cricket's chief executive David White saying they were warned of a "specific and credible threat against the team".

"I guess it was disappointing for everyone involved," Guptill said of the cancellation. "We were all looking forward to playing some cricket and getting a bit of game-time before the World Cup and that wasn't to be.

"I know Pakistan are really looking forward to having some cricket back in their home country. We're all hoping that there's going to be cricket there again soon."

It was later revealed that Guptill had received a death threat ahead of the tour, with a threatening email sent to his wife Laura.

That threat was ultimately separate to the one which led to New Zealand abandoning the trip.

"It never is [good when the family receives threats]," Guptill added. "We sent it to the right people to sort of deal with it.

"Obviously, nothing came of it. It is what it is, and we just had to go through the right channels to get it dealt with properly.

"Laura never actually told me what the email said, so I had no idea what was going on. As I said, we sent it to the proper authorities to get it sorted."

Speaking to Sky Sport NZ last month, Laura said: "He [Guptill] was really excited to be in Pakistan.

"He felt very safe and they took good care of them, but New Zealand Cricket did the only thing that they could do – that is to get them out of there and it was a very scary time for the families back here as we were waiting and wondering what was going on.

"It was really sad – sad for all cricket fans, particularly those in Pakistan, and I can't imagine how long it's going to take to get back to a point where international teams now tour there."

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