Out of the frying pan: Zimbabwe arrive in England

Somebody turning on the radio this morning could be forgiven for thinking that they had been transported back in time to early February. The sports headlines were dominated by news of protests over England playing Zimbabwe, and Tim Lamb, the England & Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) chief executive, was here, there and everywhere defending the decision to go ahead with the tour.

The issues behind the objections are well known, and the ECB's view that everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't we, has also been stated and restated. All that has changed is the venue - protestor-friendly England instead of authoritarian Zimbabwe.

Lamb determinedly stuck to his position in the face of several far-from-sympathetic interviews timed to coincide with the arrival of the Zimbabwe team. "I think there are double standards here," he told the BBC. "It is unfair for cricket to have to make political decisions.

"We don't think the Zimbabwe cricketers are any more the henchmen of Robert Mugabe than the England players are the foot-soldiers of Tony Blair. They are representing their country at cricket. Let me stress that the Zimbabwe Cricket Union which sanctioned this tour is an apolitical organisation. Its staff are drawn from a variety of the country's ethnic backgrounds."

The ECB was also accused of putting money before morality, a charge Lamb vigorously denied. "It upsets me when people say that. We need to generate revenue to do the things we do from the playground to Test arena and without the money from the Test arena we can't do those things."

What will worry the ECB are suggestions in the media that protestors are planning to attend matches dressed in cricket whites splashed with fake blood. The images are hardly what cricket needs or what sponsors want to be associated with. "We live in a country where people can express their views," explained Lamb. "But we are also lawfully playing cricket and I hope whilst people can express their views we can play the games unhindered."

Meanwhile at Heathrow, the Zimbabwe team landed at Heathrow in the middle of another storm - this one a less-hostile torrential downpour - but were soon given a taste of things to come in the form of a small group of banner-waving protestors led by Peter Tatchell.

Heath Streak, Zimbabwe's captain, asked that his side be left to get on with the tour. "I hope they will respect our right to go on with our trade," he told a press conference. "We respect other people's views and we just hope our views and our players can be respected the same."

It is unlikely to be the last word on the matter.