New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has reportedly paid monetary compensation to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the losses incurred due to its national team’s last-minute abandonment of the Pakistan tour last year citing a “security threat”, it emerged on Thursday.

A source within the PCB said the NZC also agreed to play five additional Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals in May next year.

“These 10 matches are in addition to the two Tests and three ICC Super League ODIs, which will be played in December-January,” the source added.

The New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan on September 11 last year after 18 years to play three ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals.

The Kiwis had, however, devastated Pakistan’s cricket fraternity on Sep 17 by opting out of their tour of Pakistan minutes before the first ODI was to be played. They had cited a ‘security threat’ as the reason without divulging any further information. The tour cancellation was followed by England also deferring their tour.

The PCB had in December announced that the “NZC has confirmed to tour Pakistan for two Tests and three ODIs in December-January 2022-23 as part of the Future Tours Programme and will return in April 2023 for 10 white-ball matches to make up for the September 2021 abandoned tour.”

In a briefing to Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination in October last year, PCB chief Ramiz Raja had said: “I have written a strongly-worded letter to the International Cricket Council chairman where I mentioned that the ICC has become a political wing of the Western bloc and has been reduced to a mere events management company.”

Ramiz had added that he felt the decision by New Zealand was politically motivated.