BREAKING NEWS: Zimbabwe Cricket Rebels to NEVER PLAY FOR ZIMBABWE AGAIN

[silky-smooth]

BREAKING NEWS: Zimbabwe Cricket Rebels to NEVER PLAY FOR ZIMBABWE AGAIN.

How this leaves the test series starting on Saturday is beyond anyone!

The rebels conceded defeat - that they would never be able to get back into the side.

Zimbabwe should have their test status removed... given to Kenya and let these players play for Kenya.

[Lidge]

A different spin coming out of Zimbabwe. Latest report from the Zimbabwe Herald. Amazing - this is the only cricket related story they have. Looks as though the govt censors have the media on a short leash over there.

ICC chief rules out Zimbabwe suspension

International Cricket Council president Ehsan Mani said yesterday that suspending Zimbabwe from international cricket was "not on the radar" despite the ongoing dispute between 15 white players and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.

Mani also revealed that ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed had flown to Harare for talks with the ZCU.

When asked by reporters at Lord’s if suspending Zimbabwe was an option, he replied: "No. Zimbabwe are a full member of the ICC and they will be treated the same way as any other member."

Mani, speaking at the launch of the ICC’s Champions Trophy one-day tournament due to take place in England in September, said the world governing body had been monitoring the situation in Zimbabwe.

"There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. We’ve been in very close and intense dialogue with the ZCU," Mani said.

"We are concerned about the integrity of Test cricket," the Pakistani insisted.

"They (the ZCU) are having a board meeting later today (yesterday) and Malcolm is meeting with them tomorrow (today). There may be some developments we can report then. We just wanted to make sure Malcolm Speed was there so there were no misunderstandings about the views of the ICC and its members as far as the ZCU were concerned.

Maniadded: "Obviously the concern all round the world is the integrity of Test cricket. If you lose your top players it’s going to undermine any team. Once it starts impacting on international cricket it becomes a concern for ICC and all its members."

But he insisted: "Suspension is not on the radar at all. Zimbabwe is a full member so we’ve got to respect that, but within the confines of our rules and regulations we also have the duty to protect cricket."

England have come under intense political pressure to withdraw from their November tour of Zimbabwe, but the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chiefs have repeatedly stressed that they risk bankruptcy if they refuse to tour on moral grounds.

According to regulations drawn up by the ICC earlier this year, England could face a one-year suspension from international cricket and a fine of US$2 million if they decline to tour.

But Mani played down talk of an England ban.

"That’s speculation England have never said they will not go (to Zimbabwe).

"The main thing to remember is that the ECB has accepted that safety and security will be the only grounds not to go unless there is a clear direction from government.

"If there are political considerations only right politicians should make those decisions. If we start looking selectively at political issues we will get into a terrible mess," he said.

Mani said that any withdrawal by England on safety and security grounds would be assessed by the ICC’s own experts.

Speed arrived in Harare yesterday afternoon saying he would not mediate or "broker a deal" in the dispute between the ZCU and the 15 rebel players.

"I’m not here to broker a deal, I’m not here to act as a mediator," Speed told reporters. "I’m here with the agreement of the ZCU that I will not mediate. I will respect those conditions that are placed on my visit."

Speed said the crisis had raised alarm in international cricket circles mainly because it had forced Zimbabwe to select inexperienced squads for the home series against Sri Lanka.

"It’s fair to say there is widespread concern around the cricket community about the events that have been happening in Zimbabwe," Speed said.

"In particular, there is concern about the integrity of Test cricket.

"One of the issues we will discuss is the integrity of Test cricket, and the impact that these events have on the future of the ZCU."

He said a mooted plan to scrap one of Zimbabwe’s two imminent Test matches against world champions Australia and replace it with two one-day internationals had been turned down.

"That’s been suggested in the past and rejected by the ZCU," Speed said.

Speed said the Zimbabwean problem had grown beyond a domestic dispute.

"The convention has always been that these matters are dealt with internally. The ICC becomes involved if there is an international component to those domestic issues, and we believe that point has been reached," Speed

Meanwhile, top-order batsman Dion Ebrahim will miss the first Test against Australia at Harare Sports Club later this week after being handed a one-match suspension for offending Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Ebrahim’s offending remark came on the first day of the second Test at Queens Sports Club last Friday when he scored a defiant 70 in Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 228.

Asked to comment on a leg break delivery from Muralitharan, who has been banned from bowling his "doosra", Ebrahim is said to have replied:

" . . . the first legal delivery he bowled — that’s my personal opinion".

On reading the quote in the media, Sri Lankan officials wrote to match referee Mike Procter, saying they took "very serious offence" at the remark.

A hearing was held at the end of play yesterday and Ebrahim pleaded guilty. He explained that he had not realised the seriousness of his statement, and that he had said it more in jest.

Procter said that while he was not going to fine Ebrahim, he took his statement in serious light and so decided on the one-match ban. — AFP/Reuters/Sports Reporter.

[Spogs]

Geoff Marsh was on Sport 927 this morning and said that he was expecting up to 10 rebel players to rock up to training today. Apparently there was a board meeting last night and some progress may have been made but as Geoff Marsh said we've heard that before.

[MRobbo]

This is latest news on Zimbabwe situation from Cricinfo


Zimbabwe facing Test suspension
Wisden Cricinfo staff
May 20, 2004

Zimbabwe's impending suspension from the International Cricket Council has taken a step closer to reality this afternoon. Speaking in a lunchtime interview with Channel 4, Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, warned the Zimbabwe Cricket Union that, unless the impasse with their rebel players was resolved by midday on Friday, he and the president, Ehsan Mani, would be recommending that the matches against Australia should be stripped of Test status. If that was the case, then the Australians would have no hesitation in flying out of the country.


Finally, it appears that the cricket world is closing ranks to prevent a repeat of the farcical results in the recent two-Test series against Sri Lanka. Aware of the changing mood, the ZCU yesterday named Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut, Stuart Carlisle, Trevor Gripper and Ray Price in a squad of 18. One of those players, however, has since confirmed that they have no intention of taking part in the match.

"They did include us in a squad of 18 players," said the player, who declined to be named, "but they probably knew that the five of us would pull out anyway. We are not playing in the Test series, that's how it stands." He added that Speed had also been informed of the situation, which will come to a head at Lord's on Friday, when the ICC hierarchy decides on the fate of the series during a specially convened tele-conference.

The players' apparent withdrawal comes in the wake of Grant Flower's warning that the 15 rebels were mentally and physically unprepared for the rigours of a Test series against Australia. The Zimbabwean selectors have been caught unawares by the harsh criticism directed against their skewed selection policy, in the wake of two crushing defeats against Sri Lanka, who were themselves at the receiving end of a 3-0 drubbing from Australia not so long ago.

It was those one-sided Sri Lankan romps that forced the ICC to act, and organise the meeting of the board presidents from the 10 Test-playing countries. They will now decide whether the two matches should go ahead, and whether they should be granted Test status. If that is withheld - seven of the 10 need to vote in favour for the motion to be carried - Australia's players are likely to return home.

It appears increasingly likely that only the reinstatement of Streak and his supporters will prevent Zimbabwe being pushed through the exit door.