Australians may head home

Australia's cricketers are likely to clear out of Zimbabwe rather than hang around for an unofficial, meaningless series if the two matches between the countries, scheduled to begin on Saturday, have their Test status revoked.

"The Australian cricket team has gone to Zimbabwe to play Test and one-day cricket," said Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland. "If we're not going to play that, then I'm not sure whether it is appropriate for us to be there."

The ICC will decide on the status of the proposed matches during a telephone hook-up between its ten executive board directors on Friday.

Australia's most powerful politicians today made plain their feelings on what should happen. The treasurer, Peter Costello, commended Stuart MacGill for making himself unavailable and said that, if he was a cricketer, he wouldn't be playing in Zimbabwe.

"People are going to say they're under contract to Cricket Australia and they have to fulfil their contracts," said Costello. "I understand that argument but I would suggest Cricket Australia think very seriously about this tour."

John Howard, the prime minister, perhaps mindful of the antagonism sparked by his random theories on Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action, was more cautious. Asked on ABC Radio if the Australians should come home, Howard said: "That's a matter for Cricket Australia, I don't want to tell Cricket Australia what to do.

"But I do want to express the view that I think most Australians hold, and that is there should not be any selection of teams on a racial basis. After all, that was the basis of the original 20-year ban on South Africa, wasn't it?"

The matches will lose their Test status if seven of the ten ICC directors, representing each Test-playing country, support such a motion. Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain, views it as an obvious solution.

"I think the whole situation is very sad and obviously it needs to be sorted out," Chappell said. "I don't think it is a satisfactory situation when you have a team being put on the field that is clearly not their best team. We can't afford to have the standard of Test cricket denigrated from within. I think that's something that has really got to be fiercely protected by the game of cricket."