NZ government considers options on Zimbabwe ban

John Key, New Zealand's prime minister, gave his clearest message yet that he was prepared to step in to prevent the tour of Zimbabwe in July go ahead.

"I'm pretty reluctant for the Black Caps to travel," Key said. "There are very real, genuine security risks for our players." Asked if he was willing to go further than his predecessor and actually ban the players from going he said that he was. "There are some options that I am working through at the moment.

"We don't support that regime. We don't support what is happening in that country, and we don't want to give a signal that we do."

If Key does step in, then it will free New Zealand Cricket from having to make a difficult choice.

"It's a political question and requires a political solution; it's not a decision NZC should have to make," Justin Vaughan, the board's CEO, said. "We are a group of cricket administrators. We might have strong feelings about the situation in Zimbabwe but judging international politics is not what we're about."