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Blow to Zimbabwe's cricket future as MCC cancels fact-finding mission

Zimbabwe's hopes for a return to the international fold have suffered a setback after the cricket establishment followed government advice not to travel there. Marylebone Cricket Club will not even enter the country to conduct a fact-finding mission after receiving advice from the Foreign Office over the "inappropriate" message it would send. A planned tour of Zimbabwe by one of MCC's representative teams is now out of the question until the advice changes.

"There has been insufficient progress in the fundamental issues of political reform to justify sports tours to Zimbabwe by British teams, including county sides," said the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, in a letter to governing bodies through their umbrella organisation, the Sport and Recreation Alliance. "The positive signal such tours would send would not be appropriate."

The government is particularly concerned about the involvement of Peter Chingoka as the head of Zimbabwe Cricket. He has appeared on an international sanctions list and is seen as too close an associate of the discredited president Robert Mugabe to justify the approval of tours to the country. MCC's decision follows Cricket Scotland's cancellation of an Intercontinental Cup fixture there next month and is a blow to Zimbabwean ambitions of returning to Test cricket.

The Lord's fact-finding mission had been due to take place following a request from Andy Flower, the England coach and former Zimbabwe Test player, to explore the reopening of formal links. New Zealand are believed to be due to send their 'A' team there in October, with Australia hosting a Zimbabwe 'A' side next year. This followed South Africa's decision to take the first step, when they warmed up for England's visit last year by hosting their neighbouring state in two one-day internationals.

Earlier this year MCC's head of cricket, John Stephenson, met with David Coltart, Zimbabwe's minister of sport and culture, and Andy Whittall, the former Zimbabwe Test bowler and MCC member. Discussions centred on sending an MCC representative team to Zimbabwe and to conduct further investigations while there.

"We were advised by the government not to go at the present time," said a spokesman for MCC. "We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible in Zimbabwean cricket. As soon as the advice changes we'll act on it very quickly."

Zimbabwe's tour to England last year was cancelled in June 2008 at the request of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown. Since then the progressive Morgan Tsvangirai has become Zimbabwe's prime minister and cricketing figures such as Alan Butcher, the father of the former England opener Mark Butcher, have begun to take up senior coaching posts in the country.

Those developments seemed to point to Zimbabwe's return from pariah status. But with political upheaval in Zimbabwe continuing, the Foreign Office believes sports tours would confer unjustified legitimacy on Mugabe's regime.

Zimfanatic69 wrote:The MCC is a private members club.

This is not a blow but a disappointment but given that in the eighties a sizeable minority of MCC members wanted to send a team to apartheid South Africa then screw them.

sloandog wrote:The MCC played at my club 3 years ago against us and they had some good players, but my god they weren't world beaters. Big loss my eye, we'd have smoked em

aydee wrote:

sloandog wrote:The MCC played at my club 3 years ago against us and they had some good players, but my god they weren't world beaters. Big loss my eye, we'd have smoked em

haha, it wasn't a playing tour...

bayhaus wrote:Who the heck is the MCC?!