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England cancel flight to Zimbabwe

Wisden Cricinfo staff

November 24, 2004

England's cricketers have cancelled their scheduled flight to Zimbabwe on
the orders of the England & Wales Cricket Board, and are meeting in a hotel
in Johannesburg to assess the situation, following the Zimbabwe government's
decision to refuse visas to 13 members of the accompanying British press
corps.

The team had been expected to fly into Harare today (Wednesday), but until
the ban on the journalists is rescinded, the tour seems set to remain in
limbo. "We're doing everything in our power to get that ban overturned,"
said the ECB's media manager, Andrew Walpole.

England's decision to stay put in South Africa followed a hint from Ehsan
Mani, the president of the ICC, that England may yet be able to cancel the
tour without incurring any financial penalty.

"This has caused great concern for us and come out of the blue," Mani told
BBC Radio Five Live. "It is not something that is covered in our protocols."
Mani added that the decision to go ahead with the tour still rested with the
ECB, but that no individual player would be punished if he chose to
withdraw.

Mani did, however, make plain the ICC's displeasure with the Zimbabwean
government and, by admitting his sympathy for the ECB's predicament, he
appeared to be hinting at a softening of attitude towards England's stance.
"We have a huge amount of sympathy for the ECB," he said, "[after] the way
this matter has been handled by the government in Zimbabwe."

Meanwhile, the British government have begun to be involved. Denis MacShane,
a Foreign Office minister and a former journalist himself, summoned the
Zimbabwean Charge d'Affaires in London to express Britain's "deep concern
that the government of Zimbabwe has denied access to British journalists
covering the England cricket tour of Zimbabwe."

He told reporters: "Our Embassy in Harare is also making representations. As
a former sports journalist, I would like to underline my view that this is a
reprehensible step. The UK has long been an advocate of media freedom in
Zimbabwe. This applies as much to sports journalism as any other kind.

"The government of Zimbabwe's actions are further evidence of its refusal to
allow the international and domestic media to operate freely in Zimbabwe. I
will urge the government of Zimbabwe to allow access to all British
journalists who have sought access to Zimbabwe to cover the tour."

The ECB itself was taking nothing for granted, however. "I expect the tour
to proceed despite the unfortunate situation regarding media accreditation,"
said David Morgan, their chairman. "It's unfortunate and embarrassing and
something that we will be pursuing on arrival there with the chairman of
Zimbabwe Cricket."

Nevertheless, the ECB did confirm they had asked the ICC if the visas issue
was sufficient reason to cancel the tour. Thir*** journalists, including
those from The Times, The Daily Telegraph and the BBC, were among those
denied entry into Zimbabwe.

? Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

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It is a cheap shot by Zimbabwe, but it is a good one from the Mugabe point of view.
We would all like to see Zimbabwe play England in good faith under better circumstances.

With the flannel surrounding the tour it seems now that if England don't play, they will
not play because of a dispute over someone elses visa.

There are morals and emotions and feelings at stake, but the Zim guys are holding
their refusal reasons close to their chests.
So when they sue the ECB for not touring,
they can do so knowing full well that not granting a visa to someone who is not a player
or part of the team setup, will not be a good reason for England not to play or I should
say for ECB to pull the no tour pin.
That's how it might sound in the litigation court.
In short Mugabe is goading the ECB, he knows that principles can be costly.

The ICC have stained their whites at this news, they all thought it would be tricky
England would play and things might look better for tests in the future.

Murphy's law: everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

My own opinion was always ask the players for a show of hands, and suffer
the fines for not fielding a team if you can't get 11 victims to play.
A super chance to tryout some young players (if you have to play) that's what
CZ done.

max.it

Jim

Ananda

<snip>

There is a big shortage in the trust department.

max.it

SNIP