An air of doubt surrounds the Cricket World Cup, with both Australia and England expressing their reluctance to take part in matches scheduled to be held in troubled Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe are due to co-host the tournament with South Africa, but their regime under Robert Mugabe has drawn international criticism due to human rights abuses. This has lead to both the Austalian and English governments calling on the matches to be moved to an alternative location.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard revealed his opposition to the matches being played in Zimbabwe and said "I would hope that the ICC would revisit this issue. I'm disappointed they took the decision they did. I know it's hard and I know they tend to look only at the question of player safety. But in the end, there are some broader issues involved here. You have a completely illegitimate, undemocratic, stolen government in Zimbabwe."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also voiced his discomfort at the matches going ahead and has exerted pressure on English Cricket Board to boycott the games. However, should England fail to meet their obligations in Zimbabwe, they could face a fine of up to €1.3million which has lead to ECB chief executive Tim Lamb to seek financial support to cover the penalties.
Lamb said "If the ECB finds it is in danger of suffering a severe financial loss as a result of breaking its contract, or if there is any threat to our international programme next summer because of any retaliatory action on the part of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union or the Zimbabwe Government, we want to make sure that we'll be fully indemnified for going along with the Government's wishes."
He continued "We haven't had any direct discussions with the Government on this issue, but I'm quite sure during the discussions that we will be raising the potential financial and contractual ramifications of us not playing the fixture."
Filed by Rob Wright
