DUBAI, July 3: World cricket chiefs have failed to reach a consensus on suspending strife-torn Zimbabwe and will meet again on Friday to resolve the contentious issue, officials said.

The two-day meeting of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) powerful Executive Board ended here on Thursday without a decision on Zimbabwe amid reports of a split among the 10 full members. “The Board will meet again on Friday,” a top ICC official said.

Cricket boards of South Africa and England last week suspended bilateral ties with Zimbabwe in protest at the deteriorating political situation in Harare where Robert Mugabe was controversially re-elected as president.

At least seven of the ICC’s 10 full members — including Zimbabwe — have to support any decision to throw the African nation out of the ICC.—AFP