HARARE, Nov 26: England's cricket team finally flew into Zimbabwe on Friday but cut their controversial tour short after a two-day delay due to a row over accrediting British journalists.

The tour was thrown into question earlier this week when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) told the team to remain in South Africa after Zimbabwe authorities barred 13 media members.

The tour got the go-ahead on Thursday when the hosts lifted the ban, but after arriving in Harare officials said the team would play four games instead of the five initially scheduled.

"This tour will consist of four one-day internationals - two in Harare and two in Bulawayo," ECB chairman David Morgan told a news conference. The first match had been set for Friday but had to be postponed after the team was ordered to stay in Johannesburg while the accreditation impasse was resolved.

"The Harare matches will take place on Sunday and Wednesday. The team will transfer to Bulawayo on Friday and they will play in Bulawayo on Saturday and Sunday," Morgan said.

"Zimbabwe Cricket were very keen that the team should play tomorrow (Saturday). We rejected that out of hand because England could not play on fewer than 24 hours notice. Four one-day internationals in eight days is in itself a fairly hectic schedule.

"Zimbabwe Cricket has indicated that they will suffer a very significant financial penalty by playing one fewer match. "We have made it clear that we do not believe the ECB is responsible for the loss. It is a result of the delay in accrediting 13 journalists," he said.

Major Anyway Mutambudzi, a senior official at the Zimbabwe department of information and publicity, told Reuters on Thursday the 13 barred reporters had been part of a backlog of applications which had now been cleared.

Earlier, a spokesman for President Robert Mugabe said the reporters had been banned because they worked for organisations hostile to the Zimbabwe leader. "Bona fide media organisations in the UK have been cleared, but those that are political have not. This is a game of cricket, not politics," George Charamba said.

Morgan said on Friday it was important for England to make the tour. "It is not an ordinary tour in any respect. We are concerned that the tour should go smoothly with no demonstrations and no injuries. For closure to take effect we need to play cricket in Zimbabwe," he said.

Asked if the ECB had a moral obligation not to tour Zimbabwe, he said: "Moral objections to touring are unacceptable in international cricket. If we want to trade in international cricket we have to do so in accordance with the rules of the ICC.

"It is crystal clear that teams are not allowed to pull out of tours for political or moral reasons." Top strike bowler Steve Harmison boycotted the tour before the squad was announced and several players, including captain Michael Vaughan, aired reservations before the latest crisis.

Relations between Zimbabwe and its former colonial ruler Britain have hit rock bottom since Mugabe launched a campaign of chaotic and often violent seizures of land from white farmers, many of whom held dual British citizenship.

Britain, accusing Mugabe of rigging his 2002 re-election, has spearheaded international sanctions and Mugabe in return says London has masterminded a campaign of economic sabotage and negative media coverage. -Reuters