LONDON, March 27: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman David Morgan will attempt on Saturday to save Zimbabwe’s tour of England from May to July.

Morgan will speak at a board meeting of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) just over a month after England controversially boycotted their World Cup fixture against the Africans in Harare on security grounds.

There were fears that the failure to play the Feb 13 game in Harare would spark a retaliatory boycott by Zimbabwe.

By the ECB’s own estimates that could cost them as much as £10 million (US$16 million).

ZCU chairman Peter Chingoka has acknowledged a commitment to tour has already been made, but warned the final decision could hinge on the meeting with Morgan.

“We had already committed ourselves that we would undertake the tour mid-last year, and the ECB had already sold television and other rights basing it on our written commitment,” he told BBC Sport.

“Saturday’s meeting is routine. But the issue of our tour of England is an emergency item on the agenda, and we have accommodated Morgan’s address.—AFP