A simple case of appeasement

ECB chairman David Morgan: what a difference a few months make © Getty Images

Four months ago, Des Wilson's 17-page blueprint for a new approach to touring made headline news. It signalled, so we thought, an about-turn on the Zimbabwe issue by the England & Wales Cricket Board, the heralding of a new approach in which morality would be to the fore when deciding whether tours should take place.

Briefly, it appeared that Wilson's report meant that England's November series had as much chance of happening as there was of Tony Blair holding a referendum on the European constitution. But if a week's a long time in conventional politics, then it's just as long in the cricketing variety.

The cracks started to appear when the International Cricket Council reacted to the possible cancellation with a mixture of scorn and threats. Within weeks it had made clear to the ECB that moral objections mattered not a jot, and the ECB hierarchy started to distance itself from Wilson.

By the time the ICC met in Auckland in March, and came away with a raft of possible sanctions against England if the tour were to be cancelled, the ECB's position had almost gone a full 360 degrees. Faced with possible fines and/or suspension, it distanced itself from its new-found moral stance - and also from Wilson - with equal haste.

Events moved so swiftly that there wasn't even time for the ECB to consider Wilson's report seriously. It languished undiscussed, unadopted, and unloved.

The final insult came last week when Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union chairman, was welcomed to Lord's like a prodigal son, while Wilson was ushered out of the room ahead of the meeting rather like some senile uncle who might say something to disrupt the family get-together. It was clear that Wilson had failed.

He departed citing "profound differences" with his former colleagues on the board, and firing a stinging broadside at the ICC for their role in the whole affair. "They [the ECB board] are honourable and decent men put in an impossible position," he said. "The board feels threatened by the ICC penalties to do what the board doesn't want to do."

Threatened the board might be, but publicly it has seen the light and is firmly behind the ICC. David Morgan, its chairman, even had time to aim a kick at Wilson as he departed. "The ECB," he said, "does not share his views over the role he alleges the ICC has played over this extremely difficult issue." And the ICC landed a couple of blows of its own, labeling Wilson's ideas as "naive and ill-considered".

So, barring Zimbabwe's cricket imploding as a result of the dispute between the ZCU and most of its top players, the tour will almost certainly go ahead. But the ECB is not in the clear. It might have appeased the ICC, but once it confirms that it is all systems go for November, then it will be under considerable pressure from sponsors, the British public and government, and even its own players. It will need to show considerably more resolve and determination than it has to date if it is to avoid ending up spinning like an out-of-control top in a bid to please everyone.

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