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Cup bosses welcome English decision Posted: Tuesday January 14, 2003 12:25 PMJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- Cricket World Cup organizers welcomed Monday's decision by England to play in Zimbabwe despite British government opposition and said they hoped Australia would follow suit. The England and Wales Cricket Board said the England team would play its February 13 match against Zimbabwe in Harare, rejecting government pressure to boycott the match in protest at President Robert Mugabe's policies and Zimbabwe's human rights record. Ali Bacher, executive director of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, said in a statement in Johannesburg: "The England Cricket Board's decision is to be welcomed for cricketing reasons. "In making this decision, England are committing themselves to the principles of international cricket -- among which is a desire to develop the game in all regions of the world. Political change "We understand why there are many calls for political change in Zimbabwe, but cricket takes decisions for cricketing reasons and is not qualified to do the job of politicians. "Now that this decision has been made, we hope that the first ICC Cricket World Cup to come to South Africa and this continent will be able to proceed according to plan and greatly benefit our country, Africa and international cricket." World Cup spokesman Jos Charle said the organizers hoped for a similar decision from Australian cricket authorities, who have also come under pressure from their government to boycott Zimbabwe. "In the wider interests of cricket and the cricket World Cup, and the integrity of the game, we trust that they (Australia) will also see their way through to honoring their fixture," Charle said. The ECB decision appeared to guarantee the England-Zimbabwe match would go ahead unless the International Cricket Council (ICC) revisited its December decision that Zimbabwe was a safe venue for World Cup matches. Six of the tournament's 54 matches are due to take place in Zimbabwe, where food shortages have led to outbreaks of violence and fuelled opposition to Mugabe. Charle said that a top-level committee including top ICC officials and the head of South Africa's United Cricket Board were monitoring security in Zimbabwe on a daily basis. "Their mandate is to continuously assess the situation in Zimbabwe," Charle said. "As the situation stands at the moment, those matches will go ahead."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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