Boycott of Zimbabwe has few supporters

England are unlikely to receive any sympathy from the rest of the cricket world if they follow their own Government's recommendation not to go to Harare to play their scheduled World Cup match against Zimbabwe.

Tony Blair confirmed on Sunday that he would prefer England not to play their match in the Zimbabwean capital in February because of "the deteriorating political and humanitarian situation in the country" under the regime of Robert Mugabe. However, the Prime Minister said it was up to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to decide whether to go.

While some politicians around the world backed the British Government – in Australia, for example, the Prime Minister, John Howard, asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reconsider its decision to hold the matches in Zimbabwe – most cricket officials agreed that Zimbabwe should stage its six matches as scheduled.

The ECB is committed to playing in Harare after being part of a delegation sent there to determine whether safety and security arrangements were adequate. Tim Lamb, its chief executive, said: "The view of the ICC, and the view that we take, is that as long as it is safe then it's appropriate for matches to take place. We don't believe that it's down to us to make decisions about the appropriateness of different regimes in the cricket-playing world."

Malcolm Gray, the ICC president, insisted that sporting organisations did not have the mandate to make political decisions. "That's the role and the responsibility of the government," Gray said. "Over the years, governments and politicians have tried to push that responsibility onto sports administrators. The ICC will not accept that."

James Sutherland, the Australian Cricket Board's chief executive, said its long-standing policy was that the team would play in Zimbabwe "unless there are safety or security risks".

Ngconde Balfour, the Sports Minister in South Africa, which will stage most of the other matches, including all the games in the latter part of the tournament, said he opposed any change of plan. "We will not support any move to shift matches from either Zimbabwe or Kenya and believe the ICC should be supported by all 14 participating countries in its decision to go ahead with its World Cup programme," Balfour said in a statement.

Sami-ul Hasan, a spokesman for the Pakistan cricket board, said: "We will honour our commitment by playing against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on March 4." He said that Pakistan toured Zimbabwe last month and found nothing wrong with security in either Harare or Bulawayo.

An Indian foreign ministry official in New Delhi said his country had no problems with Zimbabwe. "It may be an important issue for Australia and England, but not for us," he said.

Both Nasser Hussain, the England captain, and Steve Waugh, his Australian counterpart, said they wanted their governments to make decisions. "I'd like the Government and the politicians in England to make the decision for us," Hussain said.

Waugh said: "If John Howard is stepping in then, the Australian Cricket Board will become involved and I think it's up to those people to make a decision. The players don't want to be involved in political decisions."