Government And ECB To Meet Over Zimbabwe
The UK government is to meet with the England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss whether the Zimbabwean cricket team will be allowed to tour England in 2009.
The policies of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe have provoked frequent protests around England’s cricket games against Zimbabwe and the government could take the view to ban the nation from touring the UK.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: ‘We obviously will need to discuss this closer to the time. A decision will have to be made about this at some point, but we are not at that point at the moment.’
The ECB would be obliged to pay Zimbabwe approximately £75,000 per match, in line with International Cricket Council regulations, to postpone the proposed series of three one-day internationals.
Zimbabwe were originally due to play two Tests along with the three one-dayers at the start of the 2009 English season.
However Zimbabwe has not played Test cricket since September 2005 and the ECB regards a one-day series as unviable.
In 2003, placard-bearing protesters opposed to the regime of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, managed to hold up a press conference at Lord’s by gaining access to the ground.
Additionally the ECB paid around £135,000 in March 2005 to resolve a year-long row over the cancellation of a Test tour to Zimbabwe the previous year.
