June 30, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 25, 1429

LONDON, June 29: Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute said he could not understand why the likes of South Africa and England had frozen ties with his organisation while Zimbabweans continued to compete at international level in other leading sports.

Cricket South Africa’s, action last week in cutting bilateral links with its neighbour, after Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential election in order to prevent his supporters being subject to fresh attacks by Robert Mugabe’s regime, set off a chain of cricket events.

Ray Mali, the South African president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), moved to have the whole issue of Zimbabwe’s status added to the agenda of next week’s meeting of the global governing body in Dubai.

Meanwhile English officials, with the backing of the British Government, called off Zimbabwe’s planned tour of England next year.

Government ministers also called for Zimbabwe to be excluded from the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England.

But Bvute, writing in a letter sent to all members of the ICC executive, said it was wrong to impose sporting sanctions for political reasons.

However critics, including former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, have repeatedly argued that ZC’s close ties with the ruling ZANU-PF party mean it is not an independent sporting body.

“We are a full member of FIFA and are currently participating in a World Cup qualifying campaign,” Bvute told BBC Radio on Saturday.

“We have a swimming programme which has produced Kirsty Coventry, a recent winner in the world championships, so it would be strange that the only sport to take action on so-called current worries is cricket.”—AFP