Cricket: Players unanimous - full-strength side will tour

New Zealand Cricket yesterday vowed to go full steam ahead to Zimbabwe in August, but will avoid any contact with President Robert Mugabe's Government.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said an independent security report from Zimbabwe this week had given the all-clear for New Zealand to tour and that player safety wouldn't be an issue.

In response, the players unanimously agreed to the five-week tour, involving two tests then a one-day tri-series with the hosts and India.

A Zimbabwe-based security expert, who advised England and Australia it was safe to tour there in the past year, provided Snedden with a detailed report.

"The advice we're getting is that as things stand at present he doesn't think it will interfere with the tour proceeding," Snedden said.

He said player safety was the only grounds for cancellation, as they would be liable for a fine in excess of the minimum US$2 million ($2.8 million) for unjustified cancellation under ICC regulations.

Greens co-leader Rod Donald petitioned all contracted New Zealand players in March requesting they boycott the tour on moral grounds.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said this year that she "wouldn't be seen dead in Zimbabwe" under the present regime, and that she preferred the tour did not proceed.

But she stopped short of Government intervention, which would also be grounds for cancelling the tour without financial penalty.

"They've given us some helpful advice, [Foreign Affairs Minister] Phil Goff has suggested that it's a good thing if we can avoid putting our players in situations where they have any contact with Zimbabwean Government officials, and we'll be working to achieve that," Snedden said.

"The Government's taken a pragmatic approach, they've expressed a view that they would prefer us not to go, but they understand the contractual situation."

Under the ICC's 10-year future tours programme, all 10 test-playing countries agreed to play each other home and away within a set timeframe.

Snedden said the US$2 million fine for unjustified cancellation was the bare minimum and that the touring country was also liable for all financial losses suffered by the hosts.

"If you've entered into a contractual arrangement with nine other countries then you try and pick and choose later, then you expose yourself to ridicule."

Snedden said no pressure had been put on the players, who were told they could boycott the tour and not face financial penalty.

They were given all the information they needed about Zimbabwe's political situation and had the past two months to decide.

"The players have been through this situation a number of times in recent years.

"It's an issue we've met head on and done pretty well.

"My understanding is the players are reasonably confident in the way we handle it and are prepared to trust us to do it right."

In recent years, Snedden cancelled the Pakistan tour in 2002 after a bomb exploded outside the team hotel in Karachi; in 2003 he refused to let the team travel to Kenya for a World Cup match due to terrorist threats; and later that year he delayed a tour of Pakistan after threats were made against touring during the holy month of Ramadan.

Snedden said many of their cricketing opponents were volatile countries.

"Whilst there are people opposing the tour, most people understand the position we're in and realise why we're going."

The Zimbabwe itinerary hasn't yet been released, but the first test is expected to start in the second week of August.

The team are planning to have a pre-tour camp in nearby Namibia in late July.

- NZPA