No 10: why England players should not go to Zimbabwe

Cricket World Cup: Misgivings mount as England's participation is given Short shrift

The prospect of England refusing to play in the World Cup in Zimbabwe in February came much closer yesterday when the captain, Nasser Hussain, appealed for the Government to make a decision and said the team would boycott the country if told to do so, and a spokesman at 10 Downing Street said: "We have no power to order a team not to go. It is up to them, but our advice is that they should not go."

At the same time, the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, was reported to have said he would not visit the country, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, let it be known he was against the trip and another Cabinet minister, Clare Short, called the idea of England playing there "deplorable and shocking" and said she would raise the issue with Tessa Jowell, the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport.

Hussain, writing in his column in a Sunday newspaper, said the decision to go or not should not be made by cricketers, but by a "government body". "Even if it means that England will forfeit points by not playing in Zimbabwe that would be willingly done if the Government believes it right that England should not play. Cricket comes a long way down the list of what is important, especially compared with people starving," he said.

He said it was "faintly ridiculous" to suppose that he and the England management were in a position in the middle of an arduous tour to Australia ­ they are facing a fourth heavy Ashes defeat in succession in Melbourne ­ to make an informed moral judgement about going to Zimbabwe. "I wish these difficult questions were asked of elected politicians, and we cricketers will willingly abide by their answers," he said.

However, the Government gave no indication that it would alter its line that whether to boycott was a decision for sport, but made it abundantly clear what it wanted sport to do. A spokesman at the Foreign Office said: "While it is not for us to tell the International Cricket Council or the England and Wales Cricket Board what to do, it is Mr Straw's personal view that it would be better if England didn't go.

"We ask the cricketing authorities to reflect on the humanitarian and political crisis that is happening in Zimbabwe and the fact that the situation could deteriorate over the coming weeks." An estimated seven million people are facing starvation in the country where the regime of President Robert Mugabe has attracted universal condemnation.

The political pressure prompted Richard Bevan of the Professional Cricketers' Association to say: "I would like to see Tony Blair put up or shut up."

David Graveney, the chairman and selectors and chief executive of the PCA, was quoted in another Sunday paper as saying: "If I were asked to go to Zimbabwe I'd have to refuse. I'm speaking purely as an individual. I'm not in a position to persuade others not to go, and I don't think it would be right to, but if somebody asked me, David Graveney, to visit Zimbabwe, I'd say no."

Ms Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, is responsible for aid programmes in Africa, and said England's cricketers should not be seen to support Mugabe's regime. They are due to open their campaign against Zimbabwe in Harare on 13 February. "I think it is deplorable and shocking," she said. "An election has been stolen and people are being starved because they dared to vote freely. Our team plan to go to Zimbabwe and play as though all is normal."

Zimbabwe is due to stage six matches in Harare and Bulawayo, and earlier this month the ICC gave them the go-ahead, saying they could make no political or moral judgement, only one based on the security of players and officials. The ECB followed their line, but will have to look at the issue again after yesterday's events.

Ms Short, speaking on Radio Five Live yesterday, said "I think they should not go," she said. "It is like pretending everything is OK in Zimbabwe and it is not." She said the regime was "not feeding hungry people" and added: "How can you play cricket in the middle of that?"