The Wardman Wire

The British Government have taken action to force the English Cricket Board to cut cricketing ties with Zimbabwe, and cancel pending tours.

Jonathon Agnew interviewed Andrew Burnham MP, the UK Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, on Radio 4 at lunchtime in the New Zealand vs England One-Day Match.

(Note there is a technical fault half way through, but it recovers.)

From the Times:

Zimbabwe’s tour of England, which is scheduled for next year, will be scrapped today when the Government confirms that the squad will not be allowed into the country. Direct action means that the ECB will not face the threat of sanctions from the ICC, which has forced the governing body to fulfil fixtures in the past.

Andy Burnham, the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, has written to Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, urging the board to do all it can at ICC meetings in Dubai next week to ensure that Zimbabwe are also prevented from playing in the ICC World Twenty20, which was launched yesterday and will take place here in June 2009.

Opinion within the cricket world appears to be shifting rapidly, with Ray Mali, the ICC president and one of the staunchest supporters of Zimbabwe until this week, changing sides in a move that may prompt the powerful Asian bloc to back any move to suspend the country from all international cricket.

The crucial difference for the English Cricket Board is that Government action, in contrast to a decision taken on its own by the ECB, is treated as a force majeure. This releases the ECB from contractual obligations to make the tour, and the financial penalties for not doing so.

On previous occasions the England team have been forced to make a tour - despite player and government objections - because the penalties which would have been imposed by the ICC (International Cricket Council) would have been of a magnitude to seriously damage English Cricket, and the Government simply expressed “dismay” rather than banning the Tour.

There has been criticism of the ECB in the past for not “standing by their principles”, but when the alternative is a fine amounting to perhaps 25% of the entire turnover of the national organisation including the entire worldwide programme, I feel a certain sympathy for them

Anyway, we now have a Government move:

“All bilateral arrangements are suspended with Zimbabwe Cricket with immediate effect,” said the ECB.

Zimbabwe were set to play two Tests and three one-dayers in England next year, as well as the World Twenty20 in June.

The ECB’s stance follows the decision of Cricket South Africa (CSA) - traditionally one of Zimbabwe’s supporters in cricket - to sever its bilateral links on Tuesday in the wake of the country’s deepening political and economic turmoil.

“The ECB deplores the position in Zimbabwe and, like CSA, finds this untenable,” added the statement.

“We welcome the government’s decision and share the government’s concerns about the deteriorating situation and lack of human rights in Zimbabwe.”

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon he wanted other cricket-playing countries to join the sporting boycott of Zimbabwe.

“We want to ensure that Zimbabwe do not tour England next year,” Brown said during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

“We will call on other countries to join us in banning Zimbabwe.”

BBC Link.