Et tu Bvute?

The ICC hearing into allegations of racism, which starts today in Harare, faces being stillborn with the revelation in today's Daily Telegraph that the rebel players are threatening to stay away.

Their threatened boycott stems from the possibility that Ozias Bvute, the hardline member of the ZCU who has grown more influential by the day, might be allowed to sit in when they give evidence.

The players told their lawyer that they would be too intimidated if Bvute took part in the hearing. This feeling was supported by other independent witnesses Wisden Cricinfo spoke to in recent days, some of whom have refused to appear in person if Bvute is present. One said that he feared for his personal safety, and Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, has been made aware of this situation. A number of the allegations the enquiry will consider centre on Bvute.

All evidence will be given behind closed doors, and Urvasi Naidoo, the ICC's in-house lawyer, said that the panel would decide, prior to the hearing, who would be present during the proceedings.

The testimony of Heath Streak, whose sacking in April triggered the whole crisis, will start the ball rolling. "I hope that this hearing will result in a reflection of what went wrong, so that there's a future for all Zimbabweans, regardless of their race, to feel part of cricket," Streak told the Telegraph. "We ultimately want reconciliation, and that would mean that the players are taken back without retribution, and that selectors will choose teams irrespective of colour.

"We would also want those in control of cricket in Zimbabwe to treat us with respect, so that nothing like this ever happens again."

While some of the other rebels will testify, what isn't certain is whether Vince Hogg, who resigned as managing director at the board's AGM in August, will be at the hearing. He was at the centre of the crisis and was privy to many of the conversations and meetings. He has remained silent about the affair throughout.

While there are many inside Zimbabwe who have been working tirelessly to try to forge a mutually satisfactory resolution to the standoff, the presence of one or two hardliners in positions of power within the ZCU has made that almost impossible. Bvute is one of them, and it has to be hoped that his presence at the hearing doesn't render that an irrelevance as well.

The ICC is unlikely to allow that to happen, and as Bvute was one of the ZCU committee-members who openly snubbed Speed when he travelled to Harare in May specifically to meet with the board, he is not likely to be granted too many favours.