Cricket: England in standoff on Zimbabwe

By RICHARD BOOCK

World cricket was rolling towards another inevitable standoff this week as England grappled with the news that they would be fined heavily, and even suspended from the ICC, should they not tour Zimbabwe in November.

Confirmation of England's worst fears came at an ICC meeting in Auckland, where it was emphasised that boards who reneged on tours for anything but cricket or force majeure reasons would face severe sanctions.

England had hoped to argue that there could be moral reasons for not touring a country, a point that would have forced a major change to the previous 2002 agreement.

But now their only hope is a frankly optimistic plan to argue that the British Government's disapproval of the tour equates to being prevented from proceeding, and therefore constitutes force majeure or an act of God.

New Zealand have successfully used the defence in the past to escape penalties for their refusal to tour Pakistan after the Karachi bombings in 2002, and for avoiding Nairobi at last year's World Cup.

NZC were careful to spell out, though, that their concerns had nothing to do with political or moral issues, but were based solely on the safety and security of their players and officials.

England's players, public and Government have been united in their opposition to the Zimbabwe tour, which they believe would condone the violent anti-British policies of the Robert Mugabe regime.

For all that, England Cricket Board chief David Morgan evidently faced overwhelming opposition to his stance at the meeting in Auckland, where it was suggested that everyone apart from England agreed that the tour should proceed.

Not only did Morgan witness the strength of the opposition, he also watched as the stakes were raised for non-complying members to minimum fines of US$2.5 million ($3.9 million) and possible suspension from the ICC.

And, as if to add insult to injury, there was even talk of moving the ICC headquarters away from Lord's, a final ignominy that seemed to have more to do the Zimbabwe tour issue than the claimed taxation and financial benefits.

This is the ultimate Catch 22, where the ECB are damned, derided and ridiculed if they tour, and damned, fined and suspended if they don't.

To make matters worse, Australia and Sri Lanka have indicated they will tour Zimbabwe in the next couple of months, while the West Indies and Bangladesh have already played there.

ICC president Ehsan Mani said the new penalties, endorsed by the executive this week, were designed to protect the interests of all 10 full-member countries.

But he said politicians would sometimes exercise their right to use sporting sanctions as a "foreign policy" tool, and that teams and boards should not be penalised for actions beyond their control.

He used the recent stand-off between India and Pakistan as an example of a situation where a board might have no option but to cancel a tour.

"It is not something that is particularly welcome, but the reality is that from time to time it does happen," he said.

"If governments take this action their decisions will be accepted by the ICC, and there would be no impact on an individual board.

"However, where there is no political will to act, the ICC believes that cricket should be able to play the positive and powerful role that international sport is capable of by allowing people from different countries and cultures to meet together on the sporting field.

"The actions or inactions of politicians do not drive the policy of the ICC."

Mani said the adoption of the new powers by the executive board reflected its commitment to protecting future tours, which he described as "the lifeblood of international and domestic cricket around the world".

Zimbabwe Cricket Union chairman Peter Chingoka was adamant that the will of the world cricket fraternity needed to be accepted by the ECB.

"This new regulation sends a clear message from the international cricket community to the ECB that it should honour its pledge to tour Zimbabwe later this year.

"Unless England can demonstrate a powerful and persuasive case of force majeure - which was not evident at the board meeting - we expect that they will now agree to tour, as required by the terms of the new ICC regulation."

England's last-ditch effort will be to convince the ICC that the British Government will not allow them to tour Zimbabwe, apparently citing communications from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Chris Mullen at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Sports Minister Richard Caborn.

Straw's correspondence included the comment that: "The EU, the US and others maintain targeted restrictive measures against leading members of the Zimbabwean regime, and the UK has taken a leading role on this issue.

"You may wish to consider whether a high-profile England cricket tour at this time is consistent with that approach."

Morgan believes the statement could be a justifiable reason for postponing the tour under the force majeure provision, since the visit would not have the approval of the British Government.

"The ECB has received a letter from the Foreign Secretary that has been widely interpreted as constituting specific advice not to proceed with the tour, because it would be inconsistent with the Government's and the EU's policy in respect of Zimbabwe," he said.

"We were further told explicitly via the Sports Minister last week that the Government does not support the tour."

The problem for the ECB is that the British Government has reiterated that it will not, and cannot, prevent its cricketers from touring Zimbabwe, and that a ban is out of the question.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted after the Auckland meeting that the Government did not have the right to call off the tour, claiming it had stated its opposition and concerns about the humanitarian problems in Zimbabwe, but could not make a decision for cricket.