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ICC chief says England will call off Zimbabwe tour
London, Jan 28: The chairman of cricket`s world governing body has said he expects England to call off their tour of Zimbabwe.
London, Jan 28: The chairman of cricket's world governing body has said he expects England to call off their tour of Zimbabwe.
"I think the reality is that England will not tour Zimbabwe in November," Ehsan Mani, the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) was quoted as saying in today's edition of The Times.
Mani's comments were published a day before a meeting of The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)'s management board.
However, on Monday, the board said it was delaying a decision on whether to proceed with the tour until next month. The British government has strongly advised the ECB to call off the tour in protest at the policies of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
Crucially however, the government has stopped short of ordering the ECB to cancel the tour in the way that India banned bilateral tours of Pakistan for over a decade.
Under ICC rules, barring a government ban the only other grounds on which the ECB could withdraw without paying compensation is for security reasons.
But a report by ECB official Des Wilson published last week said moral reasons could form the basis for a withdrawal. England agreed in March to tour Zimbabwe in return for Zimbabwe touring England in 2003, having controversially withdrawn from a World Cup match in Harare in February last year.
Bureau Report
Mani's comments were published a day before a meeting of The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)'s management board.
However, on Monday, the board said it was delaying a decision on whether to proceed with the tour until next month. The British government has strongly advised the ECB to call off the tour in protest at the policies of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.
Crucially however, the government has stopped short of ordering the ECB to cancel the tour in the way that India banned bilateral tours of Pakistan for over a decade.
Under ICC rules, barring a government ban the only other grounds on which the ECB could withdraw without paying compensation is for security reasons.
But a report by ECB official Des Wilson published last week said moral reasons could form the basis for a withdrawal. England agreed in March to tour Zimbabwe in return for Zimbabwe touring England in 2003, having controversially withdrawn from a World Cup match in Harare in February last year.
Bureau Report