New Zealand tour to Zimbabwe

[Train Driver]

Hopefully many things may change in Zimbabwe during the next few months, whether the NZ Government will let their side come as things are at the moment, i'm not too confident.

http://uk.cricinfo.com/newzealand/conte ... 90811.html

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Not looking too promising: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ ... h_Zimbabwe_

ZC should just agree to play at a neutral venue. The Zimbabwe fans come out in large numbers in Cape Town, I see no reason why a 3 match series couldn't be played there.

Obviously ZC want it played on home soil, but if they are serious about improving the standards of the playing group then they can't turn down an opportunity to play a good one-day team like New Zealand.

[maehara]

There was the same brouhaha ahead of NZ's last trip to Zim, but it came to nothing then. Stopping a home tour by refusing the Zim team visas is one thing - unless they're prepared to take the Aussie route and threaten to withdraw passports if the side tours, there's not so much they can do about away tours, as I understand it.

It's also not the time to be making such decisions now - the unity government needs to be given a chance to show that it's working before other countries start ramping up the rhetoric again (although events like this don't exactly inspire confidence, it's being presented as last-gasp attempts by hardliners to scupper the agreement rather that Zanu-PF as a whole playing up).

In short: not ruling the tour out yet.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

As you said, the Australian government simply "threatened" to withdraw passports. As far as I know they never actually did. Presumably that's just what New Zealand will do as well.

[Detective RDS]

The New Zealand government is causing problems to the side to tour Zimbabwe.I think blaming politics.The cricinfo article says that ICC will the update of current cricket situation of Zimbabwe.So,I think politics shouldnt control cricket.Cricket is a sport,from where politics comes here!!!Zimbabwean cricket should just get rid of it.

As far as the tour is concerned,it's very much doubtful.But there is still opportunity.I also think that ZC should try to play the ODI series in a nutreal venue.South Africa is an option.Recently a lot of ODIs of Pakistan is played in Abu Dhabi,UAE when every sides complain about the security concerns and refused to tour.Even the Aus vs Pak 5 match ODI series will be played in the Middle East(Dubai&Abu Dhabi).So,ZC can take UAE as an another option.

[Maraicha]

I am really wondering what the fuss is all about. Surely its now got to a point where its absolute bollocks. Is it still about cricket or its now about Zim being stripped of the full member status or about politics. New Zealand have toured Sri Lanka, where an obvious war is, Pakistan with all the suicide bombs and all and I really wonder if their gvt's stance is now more political than before. We have a new gvt now in place which deserves support. The tour is still a few months away and you have the Bastard Key talking about not supporting Mugabe. This is now no longer about cricket. It is a case of ensuring the young Zim cricketers suffer for being Zimbos. What a shame. Shame on you Key.

[maehara]

NZ govt are now coming up with other excuses and trying to get the ICC to make the call.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/newzeala ... 91133.html

"If we send our cricket team to Zimbabwe, we threaten their personal security and safety," Key said. "We threaten the risk that they might get cholera and we're sending then to a regime we don't support."

Cholera / personal safety: doesn't appear to be an issue for Canada or Sri Lanka, for starters. Or are New Zealanders somehow a more vulnerable bunch? Common sense precautions will protect against disease, and Zimbabwe is not an inherently dangerous country unless you're in the political realm (unlike, arguably, some other ICC Full Members that NZ have been happy to tour) - which a sports team should be steering well clear of, anyway.
Regime we don't support: Again, sending a sports team has nothing to do with politics. Would sending a team to tour England state, implicitly or otherwise, that the NZ govt supports / agrees with the policies of Gordon Brown? Of course not. Same principle applies here.

Grrr.

[Detective RDS]

New Zealand has done this before,I think in the World Cup 2003 when they refused to play matches in Zimbabwe showing security problems.Again they have sent a second team in Pakistan in 2004 saying the same problem.But the tour ended well but New Zealand was whitewash probably.I think,NZ is just not interested to tour Zimbabwe.Really not so promising news!I suspect,Zimbabwe has to look for other countries if NZ refuse to tour permanently...

[Train Driver]

I don't really think that there is any reason for anyone in NZ to get quite so hot under the collar at the moment, even politicians.

It is only february and, while NZ will have their tour planning to do, i would have thought that there was plenty of time to sit back a little and look at what progress Zim can make under Power Sharing.

If Mugabe is still hanging on and stopping any progress in april/may time then fine, give the situation some headlines, then, not yet though, give the country a chance.

[maehara]

I note that CricInfo are quite happy to give front-page coverage of Key's outrage, while they've so far failed to cover Coltart's response. Grr.