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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Zimbabwe cricket decision ducked |
| 2003-02-11 |
| Man, it's great to get away from the depressing news of the day and relax with a little sport, eh? Followers of English cricket are used to failures on the field, but this World Cup campaign looks set to be remembered for off the field incompetence unmatched in the long, inglorious history of British sporting administrators. Wonder if they imported French administrators? Or they might be French MBA students on a field exercise. Or maybe the French World Cup soccer team just showed up. Yesterday, after a fifth day of meetings that taken together have lasted longer than the average Test match, ... Just fricking shoot me, ok? ... the England and Wales Cricket Board had still not reached a final decision over its controversial fixture in Zimbabwe, scheduled for Thursday. Despite a day of press conferences, legal threats, missed deadlines and rapidly deteriorating relations the game was still on, officially at least. In reality the chances of it taking place are tiny, but the ECB, mindful of the legal action that seems certain to follow this farcical episode, will not say so. If they boycott the game England stand to lose four points, and could face financial penalties of up to £10m. Perhaps the International Cricket Council, in a gesture of good will, would donate the 10 million pounds to buy grain for Zimbabweans. The International Cricket Council, which wants a resolution to a hugely embarrassing episode that has overshadowed the start of the tournament and infuriated its South African hosts, last night called on the ECB to make up its mind. "The ECB has repeatedly failed to provide a straight answer to a simple question," it said. "The ICC chief executive tonight asked the ECB if it would fulfil its commitment to play in Harare on February 13. The ECB's response was that it could not confirm whether they were or were not going to take part in the match." "And we're going to keep stalling! It's cricket after all!" Yesterday's events began with an ICC press conference at which it announced that a death threat received by the players was not substantial. Andre Pruis, the second most senior policeman in South Africa, announced that after consulting various security agencies, the threat was "nonsense. I get 20 of these myself every day", he said. That doesn't mean that the one aimed at the Brit players is nonsense. The ICC also revealed the contents of a letter from the ECB in which it effectively signalled their intention to withdraw from the Harare match. Malclom Speed, the ICC chief executive, then said he wanted to give the ECB more time and set a deadline of 4pm for a decision. That came and went, but confusion over the letter led many news outlets to report that the game was definitely off. An ECB press officer was forced to issue a statement pointing out that no decision had been reached. The ECB chief executive, Tim Lamb, told the media pack camped in the team hotel lobby since Friday night that the team would remain in Cape Town for another 24 hours. No one expects their next destination to be Harare. And that's the world of sport this Tuesday! |
| Posted by:Steve White |