zimcricketnews.com

Zimbabwe Metro has a quote from UK Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, which is quite clear about his line on cricketing contact with Zimbabwe:

"The problem is simple. Zimbabwe Cricket is headed by a man who sits on the EU banned list and he sits on that list for good reasons. As long as he is in charge of Zimbabwe cricket it is extremely difficult for them to be fully integrated into the global cricketing community. Officially government advice remains we discourage teams from playing. England will be discouraged from travelling over there and it is difficult for them to come here while their chairman remains on the banned list. It is very difficult to welcome a team here if the chairman cannot get a visa to enter this country."

As far as I'm aware, none of Zimbabwe's players are on the EU banned list, so I'm not seeing the problem here - Chingoka can just stay at home. I note, though, that the phrase used is "discouraged" and not "barred".

It's also worth noting that, as far as Scotland are concerned, responsibility for sport belongs to the Scottish Government in Edinburgh, and there's been no comment from them so far on their attitude to Scotland touring Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe Metro - England won`t play Zim as long as Chingoka is still the Chairman…

Following on from their suspension of bi-lateral ties with Zimbabwe, the England & Wales Cricket Board, through their chairman Giles Clarke, is now pushing for the full suspension of Zimbabwe from all international cricket. The Indian board, a long-time supporter of ZC, is seen as key to securing any suspension - BCCI chairman Sharad Pawar has been in London this week and has held discussions on the matter with Clarke, but at this stage it seems unlikely that India would support any such moves:

"We have always supported Zimbabwe cricket and have nothing to do with the political situation there," a senior BCCI official told Cricinfo. "In fact, we are a bit surprised that the issue has been brought up once again since the ICC board had discussed this last year and decided clearly that politics and cricket can't be mixed. The BCCI believes that a country's politics and its cricket don't go together. There is no reason to change our stand now."

Any resolution to suspend Zimbabwe would require the vote of 7 of the ICC's 10 Full Member boards - with Zimbabwe (obviously) and India set to vote against suspension, ZC would need the support of 2 more boards to save their future, and in doing so plunge the ICC into something of a political nightmare. What I wouldn't give for ringside seats to next week's ICC board meeting...
Cricket365 - ECB Looking For Zim Expulsion
CricInfo - India likely to back Zimbabwe

As expected, the ECB has cancelled Zimbabwe's 2009 tour of England under instructions from the UK government. The ECB also cited Cricket South Africa's decision to cut ties with Zim - although CSA notably remains committed to fulfilling FTP fixtures with Zimbabwe. With the tour's cancellation being the result of Government action, the ECB should be able to avoid having to pay financial penalties to ZC under ICC rules.

The ban does not currently include the World Twenty20 - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on cricketing authorities to act together to ensure Zimbabwe does not take part, but with England's right to host the tournament dependent on allowing all duly qualified teams to take part, the UK Government have stopped short of an outright travel ban - so far, at least. The ball is now in the ICC's court.
ECB - ECB suspends bilateral arrangements with Zimbabwe Cricket
Department for Culture, Media and Sport - Secretary of State letter to Giles Clarke, Chairman of the English and Wales Cricket Board

You'll probably have heard the idea briefly floated by the UK Government last week, of banning all Zimbabwe sportsmen from the country. That now seems to have been knocked on the head (the idead of banning white sportsment like Cara Black and Nick Price didn't seem to go down too well in some quarters), but the idea of selectively banning the cricket side is still being floated - although officially the Government will simply "support the ECB" in whatever decision they make. There now seem to be discussions ongoing with the ICC over what the ECB can get away with - but at the end of the week, the situation was essentially back where it started: the UK Government has made no decision, and the ECB cannot cancel Zimbabwe's 2009 tour without consequence unless the Government intervenes. Drama over for another week.

According to CricInfo, the UK government has decided to leave any decision on Zimbabwe's scheduled tour of England in 2009 to the ECB. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on the issue, Lord Malloch-Brown stated:

"The Foreign Secretary and others in this government have made it clear that we do not encourage the ECB to allow Zimbabwe to tour England in 2009 or England to tour Zimbabwe in 2012 if the situation in the country is as it is now. We continue to speak to the ECB about these issues but it remains a decision for the board. We have decided that the government can make their position clear, but that it is not for us to intervene directly in this matter."

Without government intervention, the ECB would face a hefty ICC ban if the tour were to be cancelled - meaning that it now seems likely to go ahead as planned.
CricInfo - Government to leave Zimbabwe decision to the ECB

The Super Soaraway Currant Bun (that's the Sun, for our non-UK readers...) reports un-named sources in the UK Government as confirming that Zimbabwe will not be allowed to participate in the 2009 World Twenty20, scheduled to take place in England, or complete their scheduled series against England that year as required by the ICC's Future Tours Programme. While I wouldn't trust the Sun as far as I could throw them (and no other reliable UK source is carrying the story), it's worth flagging up the possibility. The Sun rightly reports that the ECB requires Government action to prevent Zimbabwe touring England if they're to avoid ICC fines, but CricInfo, in their own report on the Sun's story, points out that the ICC can do far worse than impose fines in this situation:

While few will shed tears over Zimbabwe not playing a series in England, there are greater possible ramifications as in June 2009 the ICC World Twenty20 is scheduled to be held in the country. It seems unlikely that the ICC would allow a tournament to go ahead when one of its Full Members is barred from participating, and so it is possible that the event might be moved elsewhere. The financial implications for the ECB were that to happen would be far more devastating than any ICC fines.

The possibility of financial losses is always a great motivator, especially for the ECB, but we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out.
The Sun - PM blocks Mugabe’s tour (Uh, excuse me, but Mugabe's got nothing to do with the tour. But don't let that get in the way of honest reporting.)

The ECB have attempted to persuade Zimbabwe Cricket to postpone their scheduled tour to England in 2009, and the return visit by England to Zimbabwe currently set for 2012, in exchange for a substantial compensation pay-off and a promise to lobby the UK Government to ensure the side are granted visas for the 2009 World Twenty20. According to the Zimbabwe Independent, ECB chairman Giles Clarke, the ICC's Ray Mali and Peter Chingoka met in Johannesburg last week to discuss the proposal - but Chingoka flatly refused the offer, insisting that England should honour their Future Tours Programme committments. Over to the ZC Chairman himself:

"I was in Johannesburg last Wednesday for the meeting and I turned down the ECB offers. The FTP commits every member to host and be hosted as scheduled. It’s our own right to have these tours. Zimbabwe’s players must be allowed to participate. We don’t need to lobby where we have rights, but the complications being created are for the ICC to resolve."

The problem here is that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is taking a harder line on Zimbabwe than his predecessor Tony Blair did, and there's every possibility that if the Zimbabwean elections scheduled for next year don't go off in exemplary fashion (what are the odds of that?), then the Zimbabwean side simply won't be allowed into the UK. The ECB has offered ZC compensation of £200,000 - far less than the standard US$2million fine the ICC imposes if a side fails to meet its FTP committments, but those provisions wouldn't be triggered if the UK Government forced the cancellation of either tour. The issue now becomes one of principle - take the money or insist on the right to tour and end up with nothing. I'd take the money, myself, but that's just not the way Zimbabwe does things at the moment...
Zimbabwe Independent - Zimbabwe leave England in a fix

Not to be for Zimbabwe, although for a good three-quarters for the game they fought hard and were in with a shout - unfortunately, a mid-order batting collapse sealed their fate and left the tail-end to bat out the overs and make up the best possible run-rate.

Two things that really sunk Zimbabwe's efforts: Kevin Pietersen's rapid-fire 79 from 37 balls, which neatly overturned the early advantage Zimbabwe had gained when Chigumura removed Maddy and Wright on consecutive balls; and Zimbabwe's collapse from 74/0 to 89/5, which undid the stellar start that Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor had given the side - until Sibanda's dismissal in the 9th over, Zimbabwe were ahead in the match, but with the middle order refusing to fire in this match, the openers' good work came to naught. Hamilton Masakadza and Prosper Utseya at least put up some fight at the bottom of the innings, limiting the damage to Zim's net run rate as best they could - and depending on Friday's result, that could be significant.

If England beat Australia tomorrow, Zimbabwe are through to the 2nd group stage. If Australia win, positions will be decided on net run rate. Zim’s isn’t great, so if Australia win, it needs to be by a large margin. Our boys have done what they can and, if spirit was a qualifying criteria, they’d be through in first place - sadly, it isn’t, so it’s a waiting game now.

What can't be said, though, is that Zimbabwe were the whipping boys of the competition - against all expectations, they've stood up and made themselves known by beating the world's best side and by giving England cause for worry. If they do come home after this group stage, it will be with heads held high.

Full scorecard below the cut.
England 188/9 (20 overs; Pietersen 79, Chigumbura 4/31), Zimbabwe 138/7 (20 overs; Taylor 47, Mascarenhas 3/18). England win by 50 runs, currently lead Group B.

Former Zim captain has been named England's new assistant coach, following on from the appointment of Peter Moores in place of Duncan Fletcher. Funny how England can't seem to manage without at least one Zimbabwean in their setup, isn't it?

One side effect of the appointment is that Flower's first-class playing career is now at an end. In a statement announcing the appointment, Flower said;:

"I'm proud of the days I spent in Zimbabwe and I'm proud of the fact that when we were given Test status we worked our hides off, sweating blood and tears trying to justify that promotion to Test and one-day international cricket. I look back fondly on the times that I spent with a lot of good people in Zimbabwe."

Flower has indicated in the past that he would be willing to help Zimbabwean cricket rebuild, just not under the current board. During his time with Zimbabwe, Flower played 63 Tests, scoring 4794 runs at an average of 51.54, with 12 centuries and 160 dismissals as wicketkeeper. He was the #1 ranked Test bastman for a period, and is undoubtedly Zimbabwe's greatest player to date.

Kenya met England in the final match in Group C - with England's form having been at best erratic of late, Kenya may have been harbouring hopes of reaching the second round for the second World Cup in a row, but sadly it wasn't to be. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Kenya found themselves on the receiving end of a determined English bowling display, and were bowled out for just 177. In reply, England wobbled early on with the loss of Michael Vaughan for just 1 run, but former Irish international Ed Joyce (75) and former South African Kevin Pietersen (56*) saw the English home with 17 overs to spare. Read that sentence again and see if you can spot the irony.

Australia v South Africa was billed as the group stage clash of the titans, but didn't quite live up to its billing. Aware of South Africa's run-chasing capability, Australia took the early fight to the Proteas and smashed their way to 377/6 from their 50 overs, showing particular contempt from the bowling of Shaun Pollock, who went for 83 runs from his 10 overs. In reply, Smith and de Villiers got off to a rapid start, but once de Villiers was run out by a superb direct hit by Shane Watson, thrown all the way from the boundary, the wheels came off the South African innings as Jacques Kallis was unable to score at the required rate, and most of the rest of the batsmen were unable to score at all. The Proteas were bowled out in the 48th over, 83 runs short of the target.
England beat Kenya by 7 wickets
Australia beat South Africa by 83 runs