ECB demands Government guidance on Zimbabwe

England's cricket administrators yesterday demanded official guidance from ministers on what they should do about playing in Zimbabwe. They have become alternately mystified and angry as the furore has grown over their decision to play a single World Cup match there in February.

It became clear yesterday that, while England might be under pressure at home to withdraw from the game, they could also be isolated from the rest of the International Cricket Council if they do so. They could expect not only to forfeit points but to be sued for the lost revenue by the ICC and the television rights holders, the Global Cricket Corporation.

The statement by David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, that, if asked, he would not go to Zimbabwe himself, only made the position more difficult. The ICC insisted it expected England to support the programme, which involves Zimbabwe playing all their six group matches at home.

None of the other five countries scheduled to go there has yet come under any pressure to boycott that leg of the tournament because of the policies of the President, Robert Mugabe. Corruption is endemic, millions are starving. Most of the competition, including all of the later stages, is being held in South Africa.

Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said yesterday: "Nobody at the government has contacted us directly to say they don't want us to go. I find that extraordinary and I'm also disappointed, particularly in a matter of such importance. We should at least have an opportunity to put our point of view across on this issue as well as listening to their thoughts. We need to get a clear understanding why they have changed their stance."

The ECB has consistently said that it will judge whether to play in Zimbabwe solely on safety and security grounds. Along with representatives from the other five teams which have games scheduled there during the tournament, Lamb visited the country with an ICC delegation early in December. It found no cause for concern.

Lamb could have done without Graveney's intervention. Via a couple of Sunday newspapers, Graveney said he was against the match. "Cricketers can't live in a bubble," he said. His views came as a surprise not only because he is due to announce the World Cup squad tomorrow but because he managed the last rebel cricket tour to South Africa when it was still an apartheid republic.

England's captain, Nasser Hussain, called in his Sunday newspaper column for the establishment of a government committee to make decisions on such delicate moral issues. He said it was ridiculous to suppose that the England captain and management have the time to watch CNN and BBC World in the middle of the toughest Test series he had known.

Graveney is also the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, and another senior PCA official, Richard Bevan, the chief executive of its business arm, said he "was surprised, very surprised". Bevan said only two things would make the PCA give different advice to England players: a change in the ECB's stance and a change in the stance of Zimbabwe's players. But Bevan, who is also in Melbourne, said he had not spoken to a single international cricketer who did not want to go to Zimbabwe.

At the weekend, Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, said she found the idea of playing in Zimbabwe disgraceful and shocking. It was made clear on behalf of the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that he was against the fixture. Sources from No 10 Downing Street also stressed the Prime Minister did not want the game to go ahead.

But Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, said he did not see it so much as a moral dilemma. "A decision has been taken by the ICC Board that the only factor to take into account is safety. We've done that, and we've resolved to move on."

Speed confirmed that if England withdrew from the game they would lose two points and would open themselves up to paying compensation. Of Graveney, he said dismissively: "That's the man who managed a rebel tour."

So far, the only man not to comment on the matter is the England coach, Duncan Fletcher, who was born and bred and Zimbabwe and is a former captain of their cricket team.