Zimbabwe - England cricket tour

I get fed up with the stance that sport should be divorced from politics, because a team representing the country, err,,...represents the country.
They shouldn't go and the players, if they had one ounce of decency, should refuse to go anyway as a personal statement. Trouble is, I don't think many of them are very bright.

It's a bit harsh to put all the responsibility on the players, who's career and livelyhood may be affected by the decision, and would assume each player would have a good handle on exaclty what is happening in Zimbabwe. If the government doesn't want them to go it should say so firmly and support the ECB in any fines etc that may be imposed.

Our government is all rhetoric and no action!

This has nothing to do with the game of cricket, but rather the state Zimbabwe is in. Due to this and previous governments mishandling of it. I’m sure the ICC wouldn’t want to send anyone into a war torn environment, but they have ensured that security is adequate for a straight forward game of cricket.

The ECB would be seriously fined if they pulled out. Which will potentially bankrupt our game, and therefore they cannot make this decision. This is a political decision for our government, or an individual moral decision for our player's.

Tony Blair has been fucking useless on the Zimbabwe issue. We can invade Iraq, which has no commonwealth citizens, because America says so. And for our own blood, we couldn’t give a fucking toss in fighting for freedom, for every citizen in that country.

Well said PR.

Paul Duerden

The biggest problem here is most definitely the ICC, one of the most incompetent governing bodies of any sport anywhere. The ICC should have suspended Zimbabwe as a Test nation until both the political situation and the situation with the ZCU/player dispute are sorted out.

I should add that I'm against the tour but faced with threat of 50 million in fines, what can the ECB do?

Steve T

What can the ICC do when faced with a 100 million in fines from its sponsors?

Admittedly, the ICC is responsible for the matches it arranges, and could have taken a long term - NO Zimbabwe decision. But cricket is about spirit, not politics. In the end, it might be the spirit of cricket that oddly rescues Zimbabwe. Through the sharing of sport, and the commonhood it helps to create.

Well put PR,

But in light of Zim's recent history shouldn't there be government support of an decision not to play.

It's a shame that this government isn't interested in helping sort the problems out in Zim ... perhaps we should tell them that they have oil...

quote:

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Originally posted by greeny:
It's a bit harsh to put all the responsibility on the players, who's career and livelyhood may be affected by the decision, and would assume each player would have a good handle on exaclty what is happening in Zimbabwe. If the government doesn't want them to go it should say so firmly and support the ECB in any fines etc that may be imposed.

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Dear Greeny,

Faint hope that Blair will fail to delegate responsibilty in this case. Bloody little man will fail to show a decent example. You become PM of our great country and , sorry to say it, you pick up some responsibility for past actions in which you had no hand. Typically some one else will pick up his cock-up in Iraq. [IMHO].

Friends slaughtered by Mugabe's mob in Buloweyo in 1978.

Fredrik Fiske

They shouldn't go. Damn the consequences.

Paul