[a] The tour was almost called off before it had started following a suicide bomb attack which saw the assassination of Vice-Admiral Clancy Fernando and three other naval officers by Tamil separatists.
Before the tour of Zimbabwe began two players, Chris Cairns and Danny Morrison, were replaced due to injuries, with Simon Doull and Mark Haslam called into the side.
A vote initially split the players and Peter McDermott, the chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Board, flew to the country to negotiate with them.
[5][6] Five players, Greatbatch, Larsen, Latham, Patel and Watson, chose to leave the tour and return to New Zealand, as did the team coach Warren Lees.
They were replaced by Grant Bradburn, Michael Owens, Justin Vaughan and veteran batsman John Wright, who had previously made himself unavailable for the tour.