South Africa's players call for ICC intervention in Zimbabwe

South Africa's cricketers have asked the International Cricket Council to get involved in the ongoing row which threatens to rip Zimbabwean cricket apart.

The turmoil which has resulted from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's sacking of Heath Streak has opened huge divides between leading players and the board.

"It is clear the situation cannot be resolved internally in the current environment," Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association, told Reuters. "This has now become an international concern and it's our belief that the ICC must become involved to try and safeguard the best interests of cricket.

"Every player association around the world believes firmly in resolving its own issues wherever possible, unless there are extreme circumstances which have international implications, and these are both extreme and international."

Streak himself called on the ICC to investigate the situation, but to date it has refused to get involved. "The ICC is obviously concerned about the current dispute, Ehsan Mani, the ICC's president, told reporters. "But [we] would not seek to intervene in this type of domestic issue as it is internal to the Zimbabwe cricket community."