Racism hearing scrapped

The ICC's hearing to investigate accusations of racism levelled against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) has been scrapped after what one of the two members of the panel described as "the inflexible attitudes of both parties".

The hearing was adjourned last night when the panel ruled that evidence from certain witnesses could be given without ZCU officials being present. The panel will now rely on evidence from written submissions to compile its report.

The hearing started yesterday but the trouble started after the first witness - who was not one of the rebel players - had finished giving evidence. Chris Venturas, acting on behalf of the players, argued that the presence of three ZCU officials - Ozias Bvute, Max Ebrahim and Tavengwa Mkuhlani - would intimidate witnesses. Despite objections by the board's lawyers, the panel agreed to the request and ended proceedings early to allow both sides to consider their positions.

The panel - Goolam Vahanvati, India's solicitor-general, and Steven Majiedt, a South African High Court judge - hoped that both sides would discuss the situation overnight, but there was no communication at all between them. With the ZCU refusing to accept the ruling, stalemate ensued.

One prospective witness told Wisden Cricinfo that the hearing should never have been held in Zimbabwe. "It was obvious the ZCU was going to create a hostile atmosphere and intimidate the witnesses," he said. "They did just that and have got away with it."

Ehsan Mani, the ICC's president, said today's events were "disappointing", before explaining how the ICC will proceed. "I am disappointed that the hearing did not go the distance," he said. "I would prefer to have had the oral evidence heard by the two-member panel, but this has now proved impossible. I will now await the report into the allegations." The panel will now consider written submissions from both parties as it prepares its report for the ICC Executive Board.

Prior to the start of the racism hearing, the ICC had agreed that the findings would not be acted upon until after a dispute concerning a number of other allegations involving the ZCU and some of the players had been resolved. "It is now important that the two parties move ahead quickly with the disputes-resolution process," said Mani, "so that the issues can be dealt with and the report of the racism inquiry can be acted upon."