LONDON, May 5: Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has pointed the finger of blame at the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the stand-off over whether England should tour Zimbabwe later this year.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been embroiled in a political battle with the government and the ICC over October's tour. "We would prefer them not to go but there is a difference between doing that and ordering them not to go, which I think would step over the proper line," Blair told parliament on Wednesday.
"I think many people, however, believe rightly that the problem actually resides with the ICC," he said. The ICC, the sport's governing body, said last month that it would suspend any country refusing to fulfil its tour obligations for anything other than security reasons or governmental direction and fine them $2 million.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will meet chiefs from the ECB on Thursday but Blair indicated they would not get what they most want - a government instruction not to tour, which would allow them to escape ICC sanctions.
The British government has said it has serious concerns about the human rights record of President Robert Mugabe's government, but that it is down to the ECB to make the decision whether to tour.
Ministers say they have no authority to ban the tour, citing the 1980 Moscow Olympics when British athletes ignored the wishes of Margaret Thatcher's government and competed. Zimbabwe cricket chiefs have consistently argued there is no sound reason to cancel.
Straw wrote to the ECB earlier this year, saying the security situation in Zimbabwe had worsened, not improved, since then. Leading England players like Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher have already voiced their doubts about playing in Zimbabwe.
Australia bowler Stuart MacGill made himself unavailable for the world champions' tour of Zimbabwe later this month because of moral concerns. Meanwhile, the future of ECB chairman, David Morgan, is in doubt over the way he has tackled Zimbabwe tour problems and his review of the domestic game, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Officials representing the counties are said to be urging chairman Mike Soper to run for the post against Morgan. Soper declined to comment on whether he had been urged to stand but said: "There is disquiet among the county chairmen over the way things are being handled at Lord's.
"The domestic review group proposals were not popular, particularly as there was only a single representative of the counties on the group, and we have agreed to set up our own review."
The chairmen are also said to be keen that proposals to streamline the ECB suggested in the Carpenter review are adopted as soon as possible. Soper added: "The new breed of county chairmen are smart people who know how to run a business and know their sport and many of them would like to see Carpenter adopted swiftly so that the ECB operates more efficiently." -Agencies
