Government increase pressure on Zimbabwe tour

The British government has stepped back into the debate surrounding England's sporting relations with Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, and is putting pressure on the ECB to cancel their proposed tour in October 2004.

The government has voiced its concern in the wake of comments by Lord MacLaurin, the former ECB chairman, and current chief of England's main sponsors, Vodafone. In an interview with the London-based Guardian newspaper, MacLaurin warned that Vodafone might be forced to withdraw its support, worth roughly £3 million per year, if the tour goes ahead.

In February this year, a huge furore surrounded and eventually overshadowed England's World Cup campaign, with England pulling out of their Pool A match in Harare at the eleventh hour. It was a decision that ultimately cost the ECB close to £1 million in compensation, and the dust has barely been allowed to settle since, despite Zimbabwe's recent visit to England passing relatively peacefully.

But, with exactly a year to go until England's next tour, the various parties concerned are determined not to make the same mistake again, and are airing their views well in advance. "Essentially our position has not changed," said a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. "Ministers made it clear before the World Cup that they did not want an England cricket team to play in Zimbabwe and nothing has changed on the ground to alter that view. The tour is still a long way away but if things remain the same in Zimbabwe we would suggest that the team does not tour."

The ECB had originally set itself a spring deadline to decide on the trip, but it now seems likely that a decision will be made in early 2004. Despite Vodafone's concerns, Des Wilson, the head of the ECB's corporate affairs committee, insisted that all the evidence would be assessed and any decision reached would not be motivated by money alone.

"We fully accept that this decision must be taken early," said Wilson. "We frequently monitor the situation in Zimbabwe. It is under review and early in the new year we will look at all the evidence. I am advised that there is a Commonwealth head of states' meeting in December and we will wait to see what comes out of that."

The ECB was heavily criticised for its prevarication during the World Cup, but on that occasion the situation was largely out of their hands, given that it was an ICC event, with contractual implications for television and sponsors. This time, however, the ECB has not committed itself to any tour, something that their chairman, David Morgan, was careful to avoid on his bridge-building trip to Harare after the World Cup. "Zimbabwe have not been given a guarantee," explained Wilson, "and unlike the World Cup there is no contractual obligation for us to go. What we indicated at the time [of Morgan's visit] was that it was our intention to have the tour to Zimbabwe, but that we would have to monitor the situation."

The Professional Cricketers' Association, who became heavily involved in the stand-off between England's players and the ECB during the World Cup, have this time leant their support to the board. Their CEO, Richard Bevan, has been in communication with both Morgan and Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, and has expressed his satisfaction with the procedure and the timing of the latest discussions.

"We are not going to rock the boat," said Bevan. "The ECB is correct in taking the line it has in seeing what comes out of December's Commonwealth meeting. Mistakes were made by all parties before the World Cup and these will not be made again. There is no point in making a decision now when the political climate may have changed in six months."

The Zimbabwean Cricket Union, however, remain adamant that the tour will go ahead as planned. "The relationship between Vodafone and the England Cricket Board is their own affair," said Vince Hogg, the ZCU's managing director. "The England tour is part of the future tours programme and, as far as we are concerned, they are coming."