Players could force Zimbabwe boycott

	Desmond Tutu: a voice which is listened to © MCC/Clare Skinner

Zimbabwe's political isolation grows by the day, and the internal turmoil has had a depressingly inevitable impact on cricket with the likelihood of anyone agreeing to tour the country disappearing as the political situation worsens.

Until now, Cricket South Africa has been resolutely supportive, but while the board maintains a policy of unwavering backing, the country's cricketers appear far less pliable. The level of abuse as the presidential election run-off nears has persuaded many that enough is enough, and waverers have taken note of the passionate appeal by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for sportsmen to boycott the country.

Norman Ardense has admitted that Zimbabwe was high on the agenda of the board meeting earlier this week, and he told a local paper that after that CSA would "pronounce what our stance on Zimbabwe will be ... but for now I must stress that we take the Archbishop's views seriously and our policy is to support Zimbabwean cricket."

The players might have taken the decision out of the board's hands. It is believed that many leading cricketers have made clear that they will not support CSA if asked to play against Zimbabwe.

One source close to Zimbabwe Cricket admitted that the political support for Zimbabwe from within the ICC and several major boards may come to nothing if players decide that enough is enough. That could force the ICC to take action when it meets at its annual conference later this month, although ZC probably still has enough friends to ensure the matter is again brushed aside.

Zimbabwe has no scheduled cricket until the end of the year. Plans for a tour of Kenya have fallen through, although it remains to be seen if the government would have allowed the trip to go ahead anyway. Last weekend almost 40,000 fans chanted "Mugabe must go" when Kenya hosted the Zimbabwe national football side.

It is also rumoured that Pakistan will be sending an A team in August, but given the virtual breakdown of civil order, that seems less and less likely by the day.