ICC flunks Zimbabwe test

The ICC no longer has the moral authority to run the game. Given one final opportunity to lift decision-making out of the morass of self-interest, deceit and compromise into which it had fallen, it flunked the test. The outcome on Zimbabwe - self-censorship in return for the loot - was in many ways a triumph for Giles Clarke, the ECB's intelligent and forceful chairman, but it should signal the end for the ICC. Like flared trousers, string vests and the Bay City Rollers, what once seemed a good idea has had its day.

If cricketers should not play against Zimbabwe, why are English companies allowed to trade with impunity? The moral matrix differs not when it comes to trade. Indeed, economic sanctions were the real reason for the change in South African politics, not the sporting ban; anyone who believes different is naive.