ECB needs to act decisively - and soon

Officially, the England & Wales Cricket Board has said that it will not be rushed into making any decision about next autumn's proposed tour of Zimbabwe. But the decision of Robert Mugabe to withdraw from the Commonwealth has meant that the chances of the trip happening - already slim - have been all but snuffed out.

The ECB needs to decide early - it simply cannot afford a repeat of the will-they, won't-they farce which preceded England's withdrawal from their World Cup match in Harare. Nor can it afford to lose potential sponsors, and last month's warning by Lord MacLaurin, in his capacity as chairman of Vodafone, that his company would reconsider its sponsorship of English cricket if the tour went ahead will also be an important factor in the ECB's deliberations.

If the ECB hoped that the government would help out and make the decision for them, then, as before, it will almost certainly be disappointed. Yesterday Tony Blair, the prime minister, only muttered evasively that discussion on the matter "would be for another time".

And the Foreign Office was equally neutral, throwing the ball firmly back into the ECB's court. "It's the cricket authorities, not us, who will ultimately decide about the tour," said a spokesman. "But ministers made their feelings known during the run-up to the World Cup and there has been no improvement on the ground since then."

So, once again, the government will not condone the visit, but nor will they ban it. Which leaves the ECB alone in the spotlight. Hopefully this time it will not run around with the aimless futility of a rabbit caught in a car's headlights and will make an early decision.