Zimbabwe board puts pressure on counties

Peter Chingoka: written directly to English counties © Getty Images

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union stepped up the pressure on the ECB yesterday when Peter Chingoka, the ZCU chairman, emailed all 18 county chief executives with arguments as to why next October's controversial England tour should go ahead.

Chingoka accused the ECB of double standards for reneging on the agreement made with David Morgan, the ECB chairman, last summer. He also warned that the counties faced crippling financial penalties were the tour to be scrapped as the ZCU would seek compensation.

"Having given a guarantee to tour, the ZCU finds it deeply offensive that the ECB are now considering reneging on this agreement, without the courtesy of being given notice or consulted in any way whatsoever," Chingoka wrote, adding: "There is lingering resentment among several boards for the way the ECB disrupted the World Cup last year."

In bypassing the ECB and targeting the counties directly, the ZCU has effectively abandoned subtle diplomacy and gone straight for the jugular - county cricket's parlous financial situation. Chingoka has gambled that the counties can bring sufficient pressure on the ECB to make it cave in on the issue.

The depth of feeling is such that it has little more than an outside chance of success. But it shows that the ZCU believes that the ECB has already made up its mind - that appears to be the general feeling emanating from Lord's - and that desperate times call for desperate measures.