Moral issues surface once again

Rod Donald: 'Actions speak louder than words' © Cricinfo

If Zimbabwe's authorities thought the problems of sides touring were over after England's visit last November, they would have been disappointed by the announcement by New Zealand's Green party that they had written to all the NZ team urging them to pull out of the August tour of Zimbabwe on moral grounds.

Rod Donald, the joint leader of the Green party, told reporters that he had written to all 25 squad members asking them to consider their positions. The move follows comments earlier in the week by Martin Snedden, New Zealand Cricket's CEO, that any individuals who objected to touring on moral grounds would be free to stay home without facing adverse consequences to their future playing prospects.

"The Black Caps are role models with considerable power to task a strong stand against the brutality of the Zimbabwean regime," Donald said. "Ideally, the Government and NZ Cricket would get together and decide to call off the tour. However, the players now have the power to force the hands of the authorities.

"Sneddon has said that players' playing careers will be unaffected if they decide to pull out of the Zimbabwe tour. That leaves players quite free to pull out of the tour without fear of it hurting their prospects of future selection. Realistically, if enough players exercised their consciences, the tour would have to be called off."

Donald went on to compare the situation in Zimbabwe to that in South Africa during the apartheid years. "Actions speak louder than words. In the 1970s and 80s, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders stood up for black South Africans by urging their sporting teams to cut all contacts with South Africa. Now, it's time to utilise the same tactics against Zimbabwe.

"The Mugabe Government is a brutal, illegitimate dictatorship that has just rigged what it claimed were free and fair elections. It has no respect for human rights, and intimidates and brutalises its enemies, including cricketers Henry Olonga and Andy Flower. Our cricketers should take the brave step of showing solidarity with Henry and Andy and the Zimbabwean people by refusing to give the Mugabe regime the respectability of welcoming international supporting teams.

"Cricket is an important part of Zimbabwean culture, and not being able to welcome international cricketing sides would be a blow to the regime's claims to legitimacy."