UK government will back ECB over Zimbabwe tour

The UK government has said it will support the ECB if they decide to cancel Zimbabwe's tour of England next year although denied reports it was considering a blanket ban on sportsmen from the country.

The BBC's Inside Sport programme cited "Downing Street sources" and said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was keen to take a tough stance against the Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and that banning Zimbabweans from competing on British soil could be part of that.

However, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said the government had been "surprised" by the story and added: "It is not the case that the Prime Minister is considering a blanket ban on Zimbabwe's sportsmen."

The spokesman also said that a decision on Zimbabwe's tour was down to the ECB. "If they decided they want to ban Zimbabwe, we would support them."

The future of the tour has been a long-running debate. The prospect of refusing to host Zimbabwe would run into strong opposition from the ICC and could put England's staging of the ICC World Twenty20, due for June 2009, in jeopardy. Zimbabwe are due to play two Tests and three one-day internationals next summer although they are yet to return to the Test scene following their self-imposed suspension.

The ECB would have to pay an estimated £225,000 in compensation under ICC rules if the one-day matches were cancelled. They have already held talks with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to try to reach a financial settlement to call off the tour.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "There are ongoing discussions between the government and the ECB, but no decisions have been made."

An ECB spokesman added the board would not comment until it had discussed the matter with government officials. Last month the foreign secretary David Miliband said a Zimbabwean tour of England would be inappropriate. "The situation in Zimbabwe is obviously deeply concerning. I think that bilateral cricket tours at the moment don't send the right message about our concern."