No reservations about Zimbabwe tour, says Vaughan

Michael Vaughan has insisted that no member of his side has reservations about the decision to tour Zimbabwe for five one-day internationals later this year. All the England players were asked to make themselves available for the tour, which has been scheduled just before England move on to South Africa for a Test series.

The players were briefed on the details by the England and Wales Cricket Board, and also by Richard Bevan, the Professional Cricketers' Association chief. The tour will be keenly followed, if nothing else because of the furore that surrounded England's decision not to play a World Cup match in Zimbabwe last year.

Moral reasons, aside from security worries, were said to be at the bottom of that boycott, but Vaughan refused to be drawn on such issues. "For me to comment on behalf of every player would be wrong," he said. "They are happy with the way our representatives at the PCA are dealing with the matter."

Bevan was more forthright when discussing the events of March 2003. "The players had moral, security and contractual concerns at the time and these issues are still very real today," he said. "We are pleased that the ECB has been at pains to stress that any player not wishing to tour Zimbabwe for reasons of personal conscience will not be penalised.

"Throughout the past year, the PCA has made ongoing representation to the ECB to ensure that the players' views and concerns around the Zimbabwe issue are understood fully."

The tour, if it happens, will infuriate those opposed to Robert Mugabe's regime, and it will also take place with Zimbabwe cricket in turmoil following the sacking of over a dozen white cricketers - including the captain Heath Streak - earlier this year.

Two lawyers are currently reviewing the situation, and will present evidence to the International Cricket Council's executive board in October. When asked about the situation, Vaughan expressed sympathy with Streak and those who had lost out by supporting him. "It is not a nice situation that those guys are in and people like Heath Streak are missing out on a huge tournament this month," he said. "That is certainly not a nice situation but we are just concentrating on our team."