HARARE, April 12: Zimbabwe’s scheduled 10-week cricket tour of England and Ireland has been given the green light.

After weeks of anxious waiting for a decision by the country’s Sports and Recreation Commission, Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) chairman Peter Chingoka was telephoned with approval on Friday night by the Commission chairman Anthony Mandiwanza.

Chingoka would not confirm the go-ahead until he received it in writing, but a reliable source said: “I can tell you that approval for the tour has been received but it won’t be released officially until the Sports Commission letter arrives.”

Neither Chingoka nor ZCU chief executive Vincent Hogg were available for comment on Saturday.

The ZCU have spent anxious weeks awaiting the Sports Commission’s decision because it was feared that the government of Robert Mugabe might intervene to stop the tour in response to the boycott of Harare during the recent cricket World Cup by the England players, who claimed it was not safe to play here.

There has been widespread speculation in Zimbabwe that the government might decide on a tit-for-tat retaliation.

But Mandiwanza said: “We have a clear mandate at the Commission in decision making. And we deal only with sport, not politics.”

He added that a delay in getting back to the ZCU was because he had been away and for no other reason.

And he emphasised there had been no input by any government ministry.

However, this was contrary to what had been previously stated by his director-general Elias Musangeya, who said the matter had gone first to Foreign Affairs and then to the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture.

Zimbabwe will now select a squad for the tour on Monday consisting of probably 16 players.—AFP