Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe has charged that umpire Dave Orchard, one of South Africa’s most senior officials, was “not friendly” towards the east Africans during Sunday’s Standard Bank One-Day International in Kimberley.Odumbe claims that the umpire said “I did not come here to listen to your bullshit” when he was asked by the bowler to move his position. Odumbe also said that Orchard would not clarify a query about his no ball calls, telling the Kenyans that they knew where the lines were.Odumbe did not directly name Orchard, but said that the umpire who had upset the Kenyans had not been standing at the end from which the Kenyan captain had bowled. Wilf Diedricks was the umpire at the end from which Odumbe bowled.Orchard is a veteran of 24 Test matches and 75 One-Day Internationals and is on the International Cricket Council’s international panel. A former first-class all-rounder with Natal, he is generally well liked by players because of his feel for the game, although his blunt manner of speaking has sometimes been misinterpreted by people meeting him for the first time.In terms of ICC regulations, Orchard may not comment on the matter.

It’s not often that choosing New Zealand teams has been as predictable as that for tomorrow’s first Test with Australia at Brisbane.The tour selectors have chosen the following playing XI: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Matthew Bell, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Dion Nash, Shayne O’Connor, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Mathew Sinclair and Daniel Vettori.But, in reality, from the moment the touring side was named this was always going to be the preferred 11 for the Test.It was going to take a severe slump in form for someone in the middle order to allow Lou Vincent into the playing XI, and it was only going to be injury that prevented the first-string bowling line-up taking the field.Sadly, the concerns over possible repercussions among those returning from injury means the side is not firing on all cylinders yet, but for those who look back on 13 months of injury frustrations it is the most comforting look to a New Zealand side in that time.Notwithstanding the level of competition the New Zealanders face, one of the greatest teams in cricket history, there is still plenty for the Kiwi side to play for.There is their own self-respect. The Australians could take joint ownership with All Black coaches Laurie Mains and John Hart for talking up the quality of the opposition.Captain Steve Waugh has been acknowledging his respect for rival captain Fleming while Shane Warne has been preparing his victims by talking about all their positive qualities while no doubt flicking through his own log book of memories to utilise the negative features of the batsmen he will be facing in this series.It is a fascinating concept for the New Zealanders to deal with – they’re not used to this sort of respect from the Australians, so that alone should be enough to make them wary.In all reality, Fleming and his men are probably praying that their Achilles heel in this and most other Test matches of the last decade, the opening partnership, can find some of the consistency they enjoyed at home last summer against Pakistan.Good starts are an absolute must against Australia and Richardson and Bell face the toughest task of all in the side in attempting to deal with the skills and aggression of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, not to forget Brett Lee.If Richardson, an acknowledged big game player, gets a start there could well be some fireworks, and if form in the early stages of the tour suggest it is likely to be later rather than sooner in the series, fireworks there will surely be at some stage in the three Tests.Bell is a different concern. He has been such a hesitant starter and with his shuffling style, his pads are going to be a magnet for the Australian quicks.There is pressure too, on Sinclair to up his performances against the Australians. He knows, like all batsmen from 3-6 that Vincent is lurking just waiting a chance and they know he is good enough to make the most of it, that he cannot afford to dally in this series and it will be interesting to see how the immensely committed Sinclair reacts.Will this be the series where skipper Fleming finally does justice to his batting talents? His trip to England was expected to give him the chance to work on his faults and he has pronounced himself happy with what he achieved.Now it is a case of turning that into runs, and plenty of them, on the international stage.Astle and McMillan experienced the Australians in full cry for the first time on their last tour and will be better equipped. They need to score regular big totals if New Zealand is to be in any way or shape competitive in this series.Then there is Cairns. The Australians know he is the key man in this side, with both bat and ball. They will be keen to get the wood on him as early as possible, just as keen as he will be to make an impression on them. It won’t be worth having 40 winks while he is at the crease.Parore got under Aussie skins well before the series started and is of such a nature that he will be looking to make the itch even more uncomfortable. He could do with some big scores to go alongside his ‘keeping deeds of recent times.So much has happened to Vettori’s hopes of playing in this series in the last two weeks that he will probably need to pinch himself good and hard when he finally walks onto the Gabba. But it won’t be long before he is involved in pinning down batsmen with his left-arm class material.The interest in his ankle injury has tended to gloss over the fact that this still remains his return from a stress fracture in his back and the real test for him is coming through the work load that is bound to be required of him.Nash is in a similar boat. But just how well he supports Cairns could well determine just how far New Zealand can push this match. At his most competitive, it would go until the last session of the fifth day.Completing the comeback class of 2001 is O’Connor. He is a much better bowler than the fresh-faced youngster of four years ago, and it will be interesting to see how much his increased pace, and ability to swing the ball, can back up the efforts of Cairns and Nash.It is New Zealand’s most daunting overseas assignment for some years. With everyone back on board good results are expected. The challenge is ahead of the tourists. But the question remains: Do they really feature on the Australian warning radar or are the world champions genuinely respectful of Fleming’s men?

The return of Evan Marshall and the selection of the promising Jordan Sheed are two of the features of the State Otago Volts team named for next weekend’s State Max tournament at the North Harbour Stadium.Marshall retired (prematurely) from the game five years ago but after a solid winter’s training and tutelage from Otago coach Glenn Turner is said to be raring to go.Sheed is an aggressive right-handed batsman who is pushing for a place at a higher level. He is in his first year out of high school.The team is: Chris Gaffaney (captain), Andrew Hore, Craig Cumming, Jordan Sheed, Craig Pryor, Scott Waide, Simon Beare, Evan Marshall, James McMillan, Kerry Walmsley, David Sewell and Martyn Croy.Unavailable because of injury were Brendan McCullum and Warren McSkimming.

Sharing 196 runs for the fourth wicket, Sridharan Sharath and Hemang Badani took Tamil Nadu to a strong position at the end of Day Two in their Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka at Bangalore.Losing opener Sridharan Sriram early in the day, Tamil Nadu’s fortunes revived with a mini-stand between Hemant Kumar and Badani. Karnataka dismissed the former just before lunch, but Sharath and Badani then combined for their mammoth partnership. Sharath made 113 off 173 balls, while Badani struck 124 off 234 balls. At the end of the day, Tamil Nadu were 357/5, with skipper Robin Singh and TR Arasu at the crease.In the other South Zone match, Venkatapathy Raju brought Hyderabad surging back into their match after being dismissed for a low first-innings total by Kerala. Raju returned figures of 23-9-42-6 as Kerala collapsed for 125, with only Sunil Oasis (47) showing any resistance. At stumps, Hyderabad were 124/2, with Vanka Pratap and Anirudh Singh unbeaten on 23 and 17 respectively.At Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh were comfortably placed at the close of play on Day Two. Bowling Goa out for 270 in their first innings, with Tanveer Jabbar making 107, Andhra Pradesh ended the day on 184/1, with skipper MSK Prasad unbeaten on 74 and LN Prasad Reddy on 28.

BAT Sports are off to a flying start in the newly formed Hampshire Cricket Board Under-16 Indoor League.They won both their opening matches at the Rose Bowl, beating Andover by seven runs and Basingstoke & North Hants by nine wickets.BAT’s victory over Andover in some way compensated for their defeat in last summer’s Southern Electric Gas Under-15 Trophy final.Ricky Rawlins (28), Craig Vigar (15) and Gary Cozens (15) guided BAT to 101-5 in 12 overs – a total Andover at one stage appeared to have little prospect of matching.But although Hampshire YC duo Steve Williams and James Manning were dismissed cheaply, Mark Copplestone (25) continued the fight … only to be suicidally run out at 94, with an over still remaining.BAT emerged comfortable winners against Basingstoke, restrictng the May’s Bounty club to 87-5 (James Parfitt 22) before Rawlins (26) and Matt Couch (27) set up the five-wicket victory.Basingstoke’s younger age side also lost by five wickets to Andover – a tidy knock by Mitchell Stokes (27) proving in vain as Manning (26 ret) and Williams (21) steered Andover to a comfortable win.Overall, the standard of cricket played was high – some athletic fielding complementing accurate bowling throughout the first series of Under-16 games in the Rose Bowl Cricket School.RESULTS:
BAT Sports 101-5 (Rawlings 28, Vigar 15, Cousins 15) Andover 94 (Coppleston 26, Guilfoyle 18, Rawlings 2-10)
Basingstoke & North Hants 87-5 (Parfitt 22) BAT Sports 89-1 (Couch 27, Rawlings 26)
Basingstoke & North Hants 82-1 (Stokes 27, Davis 21) Andover 83-1 (Manning 26, Williams 21, Palmer 15)
NEXT WEEK:
Mudeford, who won the HCB SunBank Under-15 Trophy last summer, take their bow in the competition at the Rose Bowl on Sunday.Fixtures : 6pm Fair Oak v Mudeford, 7pm Fair Oak v Locks Heath, 8pm Mudeford v Locks Heath.

A little Grenadian stood tall at Kensington Oval yesterday.Devon Smith, a 20-year-old opening batsman who created a big impression with his phenomenal scoring on the West Indies youth team’s tour of England last summer, advertised his rich talent with a century of immense class.And while none of his teammates reached 30, his imposing presence at the crease from the start of the day until 4 p.m. ensured that the Windward Islands posted a satisfactory total on the opening day of their second round Busta Cup match against Barbados.Smith’s 143 was just under half of the 327 made by the resurgent Windwards, the second successive innings they have gone past 300 this season.The left-hander might have had the benefit of chances on 26 and 56, but no will argue about the quality of his maiden first-class hundred against a Barbados attack that lacked consistency.Smith was supremely positive from his first scoring stroke to his last and when he eventually missed a paddle-sweep to be lbw to Sulieman Benn, two of the Bajans on the field patted him on the shoulder before he walked off the field to generous applause.The crowd of about 2 000 knew that they had witnessed something special from a potential West Indies selectee.It might be too premature to make such a comment, but Smith has made a bold statement in the last seven months.His two hundreds and four half-centuries in major matches on the England tour last year was followed by 84 in last weekend’s Busta opener against Jamaica in his native Grenada, but yesterday would have been the most satisfying moment of his career.This is my biggest hundred. I’m looking for greater things in the other games to come, said Smith.I just want to stay there, concentrate and bat for long, and in the end I think I’ll make it.Smith stroked 19 fours and a six from the 222 balls he received, but it was obvious that he favoured driving through the off-side with timing and placement.The faster bowlers were driven down the ground early in the day and when off-spinner Ryan Austin came on after 13 overs with Smith already in full flow on 35, he was treated with scant respect.Austin, fresh from a career-best five-wicket haul, was a teammate of Smith in England, but it was in no way a deliberate plan to get after him immediately.That’s my normal game. Once you are up there, I will play my shots. I am full of confidence, Smith saidThings are working out for me. I want to continue my good form and grow from strength to strength.Austin’s first ball was lifted over long-on for a boundary and the third and fourth were dispatched over long-off. Such was the confidence of the young man who hails from the northern Grenadian town of Sautters.By then, Smith had already been missed by Kurt Wilkinson at second slip. It was the first of at least five identifiable chances Barbados missed on a day in which their ground fielding was also ragged at times.Wilkinson is usually a reliable catcher, but he was again a culprit later in the day when he dropped a catch at deep mid-wicket in the middle of the productive sixth-wicket stand of 68.Benn, debutant Fidel Edwards and wicket-keeper Courtney Browne were the other offenders, although Browne’s miss was not exactly straightforward.Windwards, seeking to break the string of defeats against Barbados, were encouraged by an opening stand of 90 between Smith and teenager Romel Currency, who survived for close to two hours in spite of his early difficulties that included a blow to the helmet from the pacy Tino Best.Currency was the first of four victims of Ian Bradshaw, but the left-armer did not bowl half as impressively as he had done in his match-winning performance against Guyana four days earlier.The Windwards lost a couple of wickets through some carelessness on the part of their seasoned players. Among them were first match century-maker Junior Murrary, along with captain Rawl Lewis and vice-captain John Eugene.

The Pakistanis must be feeling a trifle disappointed at not having gone past the 500 mark. But they made a score of well over 400 in the first innings of a Test match for the sixth time on the trot. Having won the match on all the five previous occasions, starting with the Old Trafford Test against England, there is no way skipper Waqar Younis and his charges would not be fancying their chances in this second Test of the rubber to inflict a second successive whitewash against the Windies at home.At the close, the Caribbeans had lost four wickets, for 164, and with the follow-on still a fair distance away, 109 runs to be precise; the Pakistani bowlers must already be sniffing the opportunity. Carl Hooper was unbeaten at 40 (6 fours), with night watchman Merv Dillon at the other end. With only three recognised batsmen remaining (Hooper, Ryan Hinds and Ridley Jacobs), the West Indians would need some exceptionally good batting from at least two of the three to make a fist of it.Having bowled out Pakistan for 472 in their first innings, the West Indies lost opener Chris Gayle in the fourth over, Shoaib Akhtar’s pace finding the inside edge onto the stumps. Daren Ganga and Wavell Hinds took the fight back to Pakistan with some well-executed strokes, taking the score to 88. Right when they seemed to be ruling the roost, Saqlain Mushtaq beat Hinds’ defences as he went for a sweep to get bowled round his legs.Two more wickets followed. Shahid Afridi reminded one and all of his intrinsic all-round value by claiming Ganga’s prized wicket with a top-spinner right when he was threatening to strike it big. Ganga made 65 with the help of 10 crisply struck fours. Not to be left out, Danish Kaneria had Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught by Youhana at silly point.Four down, the West Indies were really facing an uphill task, and a fresh and varied Pakistan attack is not likely to allow them any respite.Earlier, it was overall a much better day for the West Indies in the field. The ‘visitors’ were a whole lot more tidy, as they checked the run-rate, dropped no chances to grab the remaining seven wickets for the addition of just 128 to the overnight 344-3. Razzaq was there at the end, but the tail folded around him, leaving him high and dry at 64.The Caribbeans captured the last four wickets for a mere 25, as Cameron Cuffy celebrated his 32nd birthday in style by not allowing the tail to wag. Cuffy’s four for 82 was his career-best, and it sent Pakistan packing 35 minutes into the middle session. With 3 for 137, the other main wicket-taker was leggie Dinanath Ramnarine, while the diligent Merv Dillon’s share was 2 for 63.It goes without saying that Pakistan’s total was about 50 to 100 runs less than what they had expected to get. And while 462 looks impressive, a score of around 550 would have given them the aura of invincibility. But that was not to be, as the Windians were in no mood to repeat the mistakes of day one, when in addition to some mindless bowling they also dropped four catches.Yousuf Youhana was his fluent self. Having added 13 runs to his overnight 47, he tried to cut a straightish one from Dillon, and the bowler was rewarded for his relentless toil with a valuable wicket, his second and last in this match so far in which he certainly deserved more particularly on day one.Youhana’s departure in the fifth over slowed things down quite a bit, and the wickets too kept falling at regular intervals. When the extended morning session ended, Pakistan had added 88 runs from 34 overs.

New Zealand’s failure to better the country’s sorry record in the finals of the Australian tri-series dominated the newspaper headlines today.While the Australians tended to look towards their next series against South Africa, the winners, the New Zealand viewpoint looked again at the continuing problems the side faces in building a game plan.The New Zealand Herald: “It was New Zealand’s fifth consecutive tri-series loss and not only meant a 2-0 defeat in the best-of-three finals but a fifth unsuccessful attempt at lifting the silverware.”It was also something of a tepid finish to a campaign which had promised the unthinkable at the halfway mark, as New Zealand led the competition with three wins from four games.”Try as they might, the New Zealand top order could not find an effective mix of attack and defence, and were tormented by a South African attack which proved just as parsimonious as on Wednesday night.”The only period of relief for the New Zealanders during the opening stanzas was when a spectacular electrical storm hit the SCG, flooding the ground and delaying play for 90 minutes.”When New Zealand left the ground their innings was in dire straits at 75 for five, and it was only some desperate work from Chris Cairns – last man out for 57 – and Chris Harris which enabled the total to be boosted to 175 and avoided complete embarrassment.”The Sydney Morning Herald: “South Africa emerged from the near white-out of a blistering hailstorm to convert their recent history of domination of New Zealand into a major limited-over triumph with a 2-0 series wipeout of the Black Caps at the SCG last night.”Only Chris Cairns’s discretion and a splash of devastation in his 73-ball innings of 57 carried the ailing Black Caps past the 40-over mark as they sank to a 14th loss from their past 15 limited-over internationals against South Africa.”An effortless flick of the wrists by Cairns deposited a Lance Klusener (2-30) delivery over the fence at long-on before the punishing all-rounder drove the catch to Nicky Boje at the base of the Hill after his 75-run partnership from 115 balls for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris (31).”But for the best part of the final, the Black Caps struggled against the speed of Allan Donald (3-29) and Shaun Pollock (1-24), the medium-paced wiles of Jacques Kallis (3-23) and Klusener and relentless accuracy of finger spinner Boje (0-21).”The Weekend Australian: “South African captain Shaun Pollock said his team did some soul-searching mid-tournament after three consecutive losses as the turning point.”‘We went to Adelaide and re-assessed and discussed with the team where we could go forward and just asked everyone to stand up and be counted, and the guys have done that,’ Pollock said last night.”New Zealand captain [Stephen] Fleming said the Kiwis expended too much energy in their early performances and suffered from injuries and mistakes – particularly against arch-foe South Africa – as the series progressed.”The Kiwi openers Lou Vincent and Nathan Astle got their side off to a slow start last night, enduring more than four overs without scoring despite escalating taunts from the crowd.”It was quite literally the calm before several storms.”

Embarrassing is the word New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent uses to describe the bowler-dominated National Bank Series with India this summer.Embarrassing because, like the strokemakers on both sides, the batsmen have been unable to buy a run, and with the World Cup on the horizon, failures are not really on the wish list for batsmen competing for spots.However, the chances are that Napier’s McLean Park may provide some much needed relief on Sunday.At the moment, a score of 200 would be welcomed by all and sundry, but in reality local history suggests a score of much higher will be required to win.If it is of the standard required, the relief will be shared by both sides.Vincent spoke to CricInfo today of the frustrations that are being similarly shared by the batsmen of the two sides.”It’s tough. You try so hard, you train so hard, the mindset of the wickets does play in the back of your mind a little bit.”You have the positive intent, but when the ball moves around a little bit you think two things: do I go out and guts it out a little bit or do I go out and swing the bat a little bit, and get a lucky 30, 40 or 50, which would have been the top score.”All he wants to do is hit a couple of firm cover drives, play a couple of pulls and hook shots, just to feel the ball off the middle of the bat.Vincent described what has happened during the series as “freaky.”Wellington was always going to be a little juicy but Hamilton was unexpected as was the drop-in pitch used at Eden Park.Complicating the situation in all games was the fact the bowlers were also doing so well.”As a batsman it’s embarrassing. That’s the only way I can describe it.”You go out there and you are armoured up, you’ve trained for hours and hours and you go out there. You face 15 balls for 10 runs and 120 is either the score you have made or you are chasing.”It’s been an embarrassing start to the season, apart from Mark Richardson who has shown such good application, but so many of the stroke players: you look at [Nathan] Astle, [Craig] McMillan, myself and even [Mathew] Sinclair to a degree, we’re all strokemakers and it cuts our game out a little bit.””It’s embarrassing. Kids say, ‘Louie you’re a legend’ and stuff like that and I’ve been 10 this week and 10 last week, and how is that going to be inspirational for an up and coming batsman?”As professional batsmen we’ve got to get smarter and do the job a bit better in our own conditions,” he said.India are equally afflicted and there wouldn’t be a cricket lover in New Zealand who has not been disappointed in seeing the Indians in full cry.But Vincent added that there was a responsibility for the batsmen to get smarter.”If we’re playing games in our own backyard we want to win and have the conditions in our favour. So as batters we have to get smarter.”We’re looking forward to Napier, it was optional today but everyone decided to make it a full team practice. Everyone needs to hit as many balls as possible. Guys know they have to keep working and keep strong,” he said.Vincent also spoke about the consequences of not scoring as the requirements demand.There was undoubtedly a feeling of pressure building up on the batsmen and he said it was only natural that if he didn’t perform the selectors might want to look at someone else.”You love playing for your country and if you nick out here and nick out there, get a rough decision, or something, then you’re four games without scoring then hold on! If you don’t score in the next game then you might be having a rest and someone else comes in.”That’s part of professional sport, it’s never going to be roses all the time. You’ve got to take the good and bad.”But for me, I just want to raise the bat and get the feeling of doing something for your country and because I haven’t done that it’s tough and it gets personal as well because it becomes emotional. When you haven’t done anything, it is really hard work,” he said.Despite the batting frustrations there was a buzz in the New Zealand side and Vincent said that while they were sitting around feeling a little flat today after the Auckland win, coach Denis Aberhart reminded the players that while the cricket wouldn’t win any beauty contests, New Zealand had still won two Tests and the first One-Day International.It was better to be in New Zealand’s position than India, he had told them.There was also a feeling that the World Cup was occupying the minds of the players already. It was something that affected the team in 1992 when New Zealand co-hosted the event and played such inspirational cricket that bad form against England in the preceding series, disappeared the moment the World Cup started.Vincent said it was great to see players like Jacob Oram stepping up.”We’re a good team. I can’t help thinking about the World Cup – and having a fully fit squad, I think it’s going to be our best chance.”We’re not playing in Asia where it is hot and you get run down, we’re playing in conditions where it is going to suit us with pace and bounce. We always seem to struggle in Asia,” he said.At the moment the New Zealanders are also struggling at home, but hopefully Napier will ease the burden and allow the cricket of both teams to flourish.

English cricket did not go looking for trouble over the proposed World Cup match in Harare, and the Government stumbled on the problem almost by accident. Nevertheless, a major conflict has blown up and, in such circumstances, it is difficult to see how cricket can emerge with credit.Politicians claim that it would give a major boost to an abhorrent regime if England’s cricketers take the field against Zimbabwe. Some members of the public, who might or might not have any more interest in cricket than some in Government, side with them.Others, including the England and Wales Cricket Board and most in the game, ask why cricket should be singled out to make a political point when there is no hindrance to business activities, Zimbabwe were welcomed to the Commonwealth Games, the country is allowed to remain in the Commonwealth and the Prime Minister did not back away from sharing a platform with Mr. Mugabe at the Johannesburg summit.The position for English cricket is that they can go to Zimbabwe and incur the wrath of the Government, or they can miss the match and suffer huge financial penalties that will be imposed by the International Cricket Council for breach of the contract they signed in good faith.The expression about being between a rock and a hard place could have been coined especially to describe the position in which the ECB finds itself, as chief executive Tim Lamb admits.”We’re in a very difficult position because if we’re in breach of our contract with ICC and their commercial partners we could be sued for unlimited damages. Yet we’re coming under huge pressure from the Government and certain sections of the media to withdraw from the match in Harare next month.”One thing Lamb wants to make absolutely clear is that whether the cricketers appear in Harare or not, they do not condone what is happening in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe regime.”We’re not remotely condoning what’s happening in Zimbabwe. What’s happening there is utterly reprehensible and we’re not apologists for the Harare regime. What we’re saying is that we find it inequitable that somehow cricket is meant to make a sacrifice in the national interest which could cause ruinous damages financially to the ECB when no other organisation, no other company and no other body is expected to do the same. That seems to us to be illogical and very unfair.”As expected, the ECB came away from their meeting with Tessa Jowell, minister in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, minister for sport Richard Caborn and Baroness Amos, a Foreign Office minister, without any hope of financial compensation for the loss that would be incurred by pulling out of this one contentious fixture.Lamb said after the meeting, “We pressed very hard for compensation as we feel that if we’re making a gesture in the national interest we should be compensated out of the national purse. Tessa Jowell made it quite clear that as things stand at the moment the Government isn’t prepared to entertain that idea.”The Government have made claims that they have been expressing opposition to the match since last July. However, the ECB have come back strongly to refute that suggestion, and they have documentary evidence to support their position. Lamb remembers the train of events very clearly and rejects the suggestion that the Government made its stance known last summer.”We dispute that,” said Lamb. “I had a meeting with a very senior official on the southern Africa desk of the Foreign Office (Andrew Pocock) back in July. A briefing note of that meeting, which we hadn’t seen until today, makes it clear that ministers hadn’t been consulted. Well, if ministers hadn’t been consulted, how do we know what their view is?”Furthermore, it was the ECB that initiated a dialogue with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. They were keen to guidance on the security situation and hence the approach.”We were asked to confirm by the 8th July 2002 to ICC whether there was any reason why we could not participate in the match in Zimbabwe and on the advice of the Foreign Office we wrote back to say that there was no absolute impediment to us playing even though there were security and other concerns.”But I don’t accept that is tantamount to the Government telling us at that stage that they were unhappy about us going. The first we knew officially that the Government were against this, apart from some rather personal, off-the-cuff views expressed by Clare Short and Mike O’Brien, was between Christmas and the New Year – six weeks before the event.”Of course, we played a one-day series in Zimbabwe in October 2001 and apart from some back-bench MPs who expressed concern about our going the Government certainly didn’t seek to prevent us going and we didn’t think they would take any different stance on this occasion.”Having found themselves in an awkward position and with the tournament, and the Harare fixture looming ever closer, where does the ECB go from here?”It will be up to the management board of the ECB to make a decision as to whether we should vary our position at all but I can’t recommend at this stage they take that decision without the prospect of compensation being paid. We could be in a position where we face enormous financial losses which could actually damage the fabric of cricket in England and Wales.”It does not do for any sporting body to upset the Government. Valuable funds for development can flow from that source. On the other hand, cricket cannot afford to lose the millions that would undoubtedly result from boycotting a World Cup match. It appears they the England team will play in Harare as scheduled with perhaps the ECB going out of its way to say how much it disapproves of the political situation in Zimbabwe.The irony of all this is that Robert Mugabe himself has taken some persuading that the England side should be allowed into his country anyway. He is fearful of British security agents entering Zimbabwe under cover as cricket enthusiasts with the intent of assassinating him. Had he insisted on a policy of no entry, the ICC would have had to take matches away from Zimbabwe and all England’s problems would have disappeared. At least, those problems of a diplomatic nature.