More World Cup cricket articles
Lodge your protests against Cricket World Cup games being played in Zimbabwe :
The ACB address is:
acb@cricinfo.com
Australian Cricket
Board
60 Jolimont Street
Jolimont
Victoria, 3002
Australia
ICC
www.cricket.org/link_to_database/NATIONAL/ICC
EMAIL the ICC
ICC Communications Manager Mark Harrison can be contacted by the media for further details at mark.harrison@icc-cricket.com
English Cricket
Board www.ecb.co.uk
To contact the ECB, please write to The England and Wales Cricket Board, Lord's Cricket Ground, London NW8 8QZ. Tel. +44 (0)20 7432 1200 or Fax +44 (0)20 7286 5583.
Letter to the Australian Cricket Board :
Dear Sir,
The email copied below was sent to me by my
cousin in Zimbabwe. Things are
not okay in Zimbabwe by any means. This year
our farm was taken by our
local Zanu PF Member of Parliament, likewise my
Uncle's farm. My other
Uncle's farm was taken by Mugabe's wife's sister, my
cousin's farm, by the
General of the Army and his wife. The latter two were
lucky to get out
alive and lost everything in the process. Not to mention all
the thousands
of displaced farm workers. This is to name but a few, I could
go on and on.
BUT this is not black against white, it is black against black,
is that why
it is okay to go and play there? I have many black friends as
well as white
who are suffering horribly in the tragedy of all this. PLEASE
I BEG OF YOU
DO NOT SUPPORT MUGABE'S REGIME BY PLAYING THERE, find out what
is REALLY
going on. Please feel free to contact me, as I can give you first
hand
facts, things you SHOULD be informed about.
Yours
faithfully,
S. C.
Australia
Copied email:
It is
outrageous that Zimbabwe is still being considered as the host for the
World Cricket Tournament? Have the organizers and participants no
shame?
Every ball thrown will be like spitting in the eye of
every victim of (gang-) rape, murder, torture, abduction, looting,
pillage.
Effectively they will be condoning the
violence.
Have they read the human rights reports? Have they seen
the devastation in the country?
They have said they are
going to talk to the police about security.
TALK TO THE POLICE!
The police have condoned, and even actively participated in, the
violence. They have repeatedly arrested the innocent, tortured or beaten
them up, and allowed the perpetrators to get off scot free.
They have said that they don't think the players will be in any danger.
'How could it be,' they said, 'traveling between a five-star hotel and
the cricket ground?' Of course, they will be in no danger. This is not
the point.
Where have these guys been. Are they stupid,
ignorant, or simply a-principled. There must be somebody who knows
somebody who can put a
stop to it.
Is anyone doing any
lobbying in Australia? Your team is considering being here.
I. S.
Harare.
PLEASE SEND YOUR VOTES IN TO SKY NEWS
NOW!!!!!!!! Col.
The Times
Cricket at war over Zimbabwe
By Greg Hurst and Daniel
McGrory
ENGLAND’S beleaguered cricketers were yesterday at the centre of
a war of words between the Government and the game’s authorities over whether to
boycott World Cup games in Zimbabwe.
As the captain, Nasser Hussain, and his team were struggling to avoid another
humiliation in Australia, a confrontation loomed at home between the cricketing
establishment and ministers.
A weekend of bickering ended with the Government making it plain that it was
always against England playing in Zimbabwe, which is co-host of the March
tournament.
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said
ministers had never told him that and expressed dismay that they did not contact
him before making their views public.
He and Nasser Hussain demanded an urgent meeting with the Government to
decide what to do now.
Mr Lamb said: “We should at least have an opportunity to put our point of
view across on this issue as well as listening to their thoughts. We need a
clear understanding why they have changed their stance.”
But the Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien insisted that he and others had
clearly spelt out their opposition since last October.
Mr O’Brien said last night: “We cannot order the ECB not to go to Zimbabwe,
but we have asked them not to go.
“Our opinion is clear — given the abuse of human rights and the dire
circumstances of the people of Zimbabwe, it would be wrong to play a game of
cricket there.”
But he added: “The final decision must rest with them.” Mr O’Brien listed
various meetings with and messages to the cricketing authorities in the past
three months, adding: “In a democracy it is right that cricket be independent
and not run by the Government.”
The ECB says it is pressing ahead with plans to play in Zimbabwe but will not
force anyone to play against their will. The final decision will be left to
England’s cricketers.
They will face the same dilemma as Britain’s athletes in 1980 when Margaret
Thatcher told them to boycott the Moscow Olympics.
The athletes defied the Prime Minister on that occasion but Hussain said that
it was ridiculous to leave it up to the players. He called for the Government to
appoint a new sports body to take the “major political judgment”.
Hussain has not yet said whether he wants to go, calling it “a moral issue”.
He said: “In fact, it is asking a lot of all cricketers, who spend their time in
dressing rooms and hotels, completely insulated and spoilt, to make such a
complicated decision.”
The dispute erupted after Clare Short, the International Development
Secretary, told BBC Radio that it was “deplorable and shocking” that cricket’s
world governing body was pushing ahead with plans to stage World Cup fixtures in
President Mugabe’s strife-torn country. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw,
expressed similar sentiments.
Cricket chiefs say that they thought ministers were simply expressing
personal views and that when the ECB had met Mr Blair, such a boycott was not
mentioned.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, has written to the Prime Minister
accusing ministers of “neglect of responsibility of this matter for months” and
demanding that the Government send a formal letter to the ECB advising against
playing in Zimbabwe.
“The Government must now talk to not only the ECB but also to sponsors and
advertisers of the games in Zimbabwe in order to bring maximum pressure to bear
and to have those games relocated to South Africa,” he wrote.
The game’s ruling body, the International Cricket Council, who decided it was
safe to play in Zimbabwe, said that England would forfeit the game, and World
Cup points, if they did not turn up to play their opening World Cup match
against Zimbabwe in Harare on February 13.
The one consolation for the England team is that for once they are on a level
playing field with the Australians. The Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander
Downer, said that they should not go to Zimbabwe, adding that it was up to the
players to decide.
CRICKET ROW GROWS England's cricket chief has hit back in the row over whether the
team should travel to Zimbabwe for next year's World Cup
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said he was
angry the Government had changed its tack without notifying the cricketers.
The team is under growing pressure to boycott the tournament because of the
Zimbabwe's political and social turmoil.
Britain has led protests against Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe over
unfair elections and the displacement and murder of white farmers while its
population faces starvation.
'Disappointed'
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Downing Street says the players should not
take part in the event, although the Government will not impose an official
boycott.
Tony Blair wrote to the Tory leader on Sunday night reiterating that the
Government did not want the team to travel but could not stop its involvement.
He wrote: "The Government's position is clear: the decision on whether
England should play in Zimbabwe rests with the England and Wales Cricket Board -
an independent sporting body.
"There are no legal powers available to the Government to ban a sporting team
from participation.
"However, in the light of the deteriorating political and humanitarian
situation in the country, ministers have made clear that if the decision were
for them, England should not play in Zimbabwe."
Anger
Speaking from Sydney, where England are on tour, Mr Lamb said the Government
had not contacted the team.
"Nobody at the Government has contacted us directly to say they don't want us
to go to Zimbabwe," he said.
"I find that extraordinary and I am also disappointed about that,
particularly about a matter of such importance.
England captain Nasser Hussain also said leaving the choice up to cricketers
was "ridiculous".
He said it was up to the Government to take the lead.
'Deplorable'
Cabinet minister Clare Short triggered the row on Saturday when she the
decision to play in February's tournament was "deplorable and shocking".
Ms Short, Secretary of State for International Development, said: "An
election has been stolen and people are being starved because they dared to
voted freely.
"Our team plans to go to Zimbabwe and play as though all is normal.
"I think they should not go. It is like pretending everything is OK in
Zimbabwe and it is not."
The squad of 15 players set to play for England will be selected on
Tuesday.
Last Updated: 22:13 UK, Sunday December 29, 2002
News24
England split about ICC in Zim
London - England's
policy on playing World Cup matches in Zimbabwe appeared
to be in a state of
complete confusion on Sunday.
England captain Nasser Hussain said the
final decision should be left to the
British government but chairperson of
selectors David Graveney said it was a
matter for individual
conscience.
Both stances differ from the official policy of the England
and Wales
Cricket Board (ECB).
It has backed the International Cricket
Council's (ICC) ruling that, as
there is no safety or security risk attached
to playing in Zimbabwe, all six
World Cup matches scheduled to take place
there should go ahead.
That verdict was reached after the ICC sent an
inspection party to Zimbabwe
last month, a group which included ECB chief
executive Tim Lamb.
England are due to play Zimbabwe in the capital
Harare on February 13.
Hussain, writing in his column in the broadsheet
Sunday Telegraph newspaper,
said: "Robert Mugabe is a major world
leader.
A higher level than sport
"A few years ago I was a lad
playing cricket for Ilford 2nd XI, and now I'm
expected to make a political
judgement on whether or not I should lead the
England team to Zimbabwe and
perhaps shake the Zimbabwe president by the
hand.
"It must be right
that the decision is made at a higher level than sport, by
a government
body," added Hussain, currently leading England in the fourth
Ashes Test
against Australia in Melbourne.
But in an interview with Sunday tabloid
the News of the World, Graveney, who
is also chairperson of England's
Professional Cricketers Association, said:
"Every player has to make up his
own mind. I can't tell them, 'Don't go'.
"But if you asked me as an
individual, I would not go to Zimbabwe.
"And I think people are being
presumptuous to assume our cricketers will
just jump on a plane and go,"
added Graveney who managed a rebel England
tour to South Africa in 1990 when
the country was still excluded from
official international cricket because of
apartheid.
Politicians from all parties in Britain have called for
England to pull out
of their Harare match in protest at Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe's
alleged abuses of human rights and the electoral process and
the forcible
eviction of white farmers from their land.
'Pretending
everything is okay in Zim'
On Saturday, Britain's International
Development Minister Clare Short became
the most senior of the country's
politicians to condemn cricket chiefs for
allowing Zimbabwe to host World Cup
matches.
She described the decision as "deplorable and shocking" and
hinted she would
be trying to reverse current government policy on the issue,
which is that
the decision should be left to cricket officials.
"An
election has been stolen and people are being starved because they dared
to
voted freely," Short also told BBC Radio.
A spokesperson for British
Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated that there
had been no change in
policy.
The government has urged the ICC to "reflect" on its decision but
made it
clear it will not order English cricketers not to go to
Zimbabwe.
Short however indicated that she would be pushing for a tougher
stance in
the run up to the World Cup, which runs from February 8 to March
23.
"I will get in touch with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
Sport
Tessa Jowell, who is the appropriate minister.
"I think they
should not go. It is like pretending everything is okay in
Zimbabwe and it is
not."
Most World Cup matches will be played in South Africa but Kenya
will also
host two along with the six set to take place in Zimbabwe. -
Sapa-AFP
Sydney Morning Herald
Teams boycotting Zimbabwe will lose points:
ICC
WORLD CUP
December 30 2002
Cricket's world
governing body remained adamant yesterday that Australia and
England would
forfeit match points if they boycotted World Cup matches in
Zimbabwe on
political grounds.
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm
Speed also savaged
England's national chairman of selectors, David Graveney,
for urging his
team not to play in Zimbabwe.
Graveney was quoted in UK
newspaper The News of the World as saying he would
not seek assurances from
players that they would play in Zimbabwe before the
final cup squad was
named.
Speed curtly responded: "This is the same man who managed a rebel
tour of
South Africa."
The ICC said games scheduled in Zimbabwe would
proceed, despite
international condemnation of President Robert Mugabe's
regime.
The ICC decision was "regrettable", Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said
yesterday. Australia are due to play Zimbabwe in
Bulawayo on February 24.
"We are not telling the Australian Cricket Board
what to do, it's a matter
for them," Downer said. "The Government's opinion
is that it is very
regrettable that these international, high-profile cricket
matches are going
to go ahead in Zimbabwe."
In Britain, Cabinet
minister Clare Short has condemned the English team for
planning to play its
scheduled matches in Zimbabwe and captain Nasser
Hussain has demanded in a
newspaper column that the UK Government decide
whether his team plays in
Zimbabwe.
AAP
Zimbabwe
boycott teams will forefeit points
John Mehaffey - 29
December 2002
LONDON (Reuters) - Teams refusing to play World Cup matches in Zimbabwe next
February will forfeit their points, International Cricket Council (ICC) chief
executive Malcolm Speed has said.
"If the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) said that they weren't going to
play that game because they have been told by their government that they are not
to play that game, they would forfeit the points," Speed told a news conference
in Melbourne.
"That has happened before."
Australia and West Indies forfeited points at the 1996 World Cup when they
refused to play in Sri Lanka because of bomb blasts in Colombo before the start
of the tournament, hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
England, Namibia, India, Australia, the Netherlands and Pakistan will play a
match each in Zimbabwe in the World Cup starting next February.
Speed defended the world governing body's decision to stage the six matches
in Harare and Bulawayo despite the deteriorating political and economic
situation in Zimbabwe.
"In administering cricket we can't take into account whether one government
has a bad relationship with another government," he said. "We can't be swayed by
these sorts of considerations."
But Speed did give some hope to teams with genuine safety concerns about
their players and officials.
"It is being finalised over the next couple of days, whereby they could
obtain a ruling as to safety and security," he said.
"It will go to the event technical committee, in the first instance, with the
right of appeal to an appeals commissioner.
"If the ruling was in their favour that it was unsafe to play, they would
share the points with Zimbabwe."
SPORTING CONSIDERATIONS
Speed told Sky Sports the ICC had discussed the present situation in
Zimbabwe.
"We can only make our decision based on cricketing considerations and
sporting considerations," he said. "We have 84 member countries that have come
under all sorts of political regimes.
"It will be a good tournament for Zimbabwean cricket. As one of the 10
full-member countries of the ICC, they've earned the right to host these matches
and there are a lot of dedicated cricket supporters and cricket administrators
who want these matches to go ahead.
"We actually think that cricket will bring some pleasure to a lot of people
in Zimbabwe in difficult times. We're aware of the political difficulties, we're
aware of the economic difficulties, but they're factors that we don't take into
account."
On Saturday, Britain's International Development Secretary Clare Short
criticised the decision to play matches in Zimbabwe as "deplorable and
shocking".
"An election has been stolen and people are being starved because they dared
to vote freely," she said.
The Foreign Office issued a statement saying it was Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw's personal view that it would be better if England did not play in
Zimbabwe.
England chairman of selectors David Graveney, who is also chief executive of
the English cricketers' trade union, the Professional Cricketers' Association,
said if he were asked to go to Zimbabwe he would refuse.
"I'm speaking purely as an individual," he told The Mail on Sunday. "I'm not
in a position to persuade others not to go and I don't think that would be
right.
"But if somebody asked me, David Graveney, to visit Zimbabwe, I would say
'No'."
© Reuters
ECB demands Government guidance on Zimbabwe
By Stephen Brenkley in Melbourne
30 December 2002
England's cricket administrators yesterday demanded official guidance from
ministers on what they should do about playing in Zimbabwe. They have become
alternately mystified and angry as the furore has grown over their decision to
play a single World Cup match there in February.
It became clear yesterday that, while England might be under pressure at home
to withdraw from the game, they could also be isolated from the rest of the
International Cricket Council if they do so. They could expect not only to
forfeit points but to be sued for the lost revenue by the ICC and the television
rights holders, the Global Cricket Corporation.
The statement by David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors, that, if
asked, he would not go to Zimbabwe himself, only made the position more
difficult. The ICC insisted it expected England to support the programme, which
involves Zimbabwe playing all their six group matches at home.
None of the other five countries scheduled to go there has yet come under any
pressure to boycott that leg of the tournament because of the policies of the
President, Robert Mugabe. Corruption is endemic, millions are starving. Most of
the competition, including all of the later stages, is being held in South
Africa.
Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said
yesterday: "Nobody at the government has contacted us directly to say they don't
want us to go. I find that extraordinary and I'm also disappointed, particularly
in a matter of such importance. We should at least have an opportunity to put
our point of view across on this issue as well as listening to their thoughts.
We need to get a clear understanding why they have changed their stance."
The ECB has consistently said that it will judge whether to play in Zimbabwe
solely on safety and security grounds. Along with representatives from the other
five teams which have games scheduled there during the tournament, Lamb visited
the country with an ICC delegation early in December. It found no cause for
concern.
Lamb could have done without Graveney's intervention. Via a couple of Sunday
newspapers, Graveney said he was against the match. "Cricketers can't live in a
bubble," he said. His views came as a surprise not only because he is due to
announce the World Cup squad tomorrow but because he managed the last rebel
cricket tour to South Africa when it was still an apartheid republic.
England's captain, Nasser Hussain, called in his Sunday newspaper column for
the establishment of a government committee to make decisions on such delicate
moral issues. He said it was ridiculous to suppose that the England captain and
management have the time to watch CNN and BBC World in the middle of the
toughest Test series he had known.
Graveney is also the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers'
Association, and another senior PCA official, Richard Bevan, the chief executive
of its business arm, said he "was surprised, very surprised". Bevan said only
two things would make the PCA give different advice to England players: a change
in the ECB's stance and a change in the stance of Zimbabwe's players. But Bevan,
who is also in Melbourne, said he had not spoken to a single international
cricketer who did not want to go to Zimbabwe.
At the weekend, Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International
Development, said she found the idea of playing in Zimbabwe disgraceful and
shocking. It was made clear on behalf of the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, that
he was against the fixture. Sources from No 10 Downing Street also stressed the
Prime Minister did not want the game to go ahead.
But Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, said he did not see it so much
as a moral dilemma. "A decision has been taken by the ICC Board that the only
factor to take into account is safety. We've done that, and we've resolved to
move on."
Speed confirmed that if England withdrew from the game they would lose two
points and would open themselves up to paying compensation. Of Graveney, he said
dismissively: "That's the man who managed a rebel tour."
So far, the only man not to comment on the matter is the England coach,
Duncan Fletcher, who was born and bred and Zimbabwe and is a former captain of
their cricket team.
Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 9:16 AM
Subject: Cricket
Should the English team come to Zim??? NO!! NO!! And
again NO. This would lend a veneer of respectability to Mugabe's murderous
regime....& he'll use it to the utmost for his twisted propaganda purposes!
It will also be the ultimate slap in the face to all those who have died in the
violence...& to the thousands who continue to suffer under
this illegitimate regime!
Colleen Henderson. Bulawayo Zimbabwe.
News24
Aus against playing in Zim
Adelaide - The
Australian government on Sunday said it is opposed to the
country's
cricketers playing a World Cup match in Zimbabwe, but will not
force the team
to forfeit the game.
The Australian position is similar to that of the
British government, which
opposes England competing in Zimbabwe during the
World Cup one-day
competition in February and March.
The International
Cricket Council (ICC) has withstood political pressure and
announced games
scheduled in Zimbabwe would proceed despite international
condemnation of
President Robert Mugabe's regime.
The ICC decision was "regrettable" and
concerning, Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said on
Sunday.
Australia is scheduled to play Zimbabwe in the country's
second-largest
city, Bulawayo, on February 24.
'Mugabe responsible for
starvation'
"We are not telling the Australian Cricket Board what to do,
it's a matter
for them," Downer said. "But we are entitled to an opinion -
and the
government's opinion is that is it very regrettable that
these
international, high-profile cricket matches are going to go ahead
in
Zimbabwe.
"They will be used by President Mugabe for propaganda
purposes within his
own country.
"This is a man who has not only
stolen an election, but this is a man whose
policies are responsible for half
his own population suffering from
starvation or malnutrition."
Downer
described Mugabe's administration as a "simply appalling regime" and
said he
hoped the ICC would review its decision.
"We are certainly not going to
intervene and stop the Australian cricket
team from going," he
said.
"If the Australian cricket team doesn't play and all the other
teams do,
then the Australian team will be penalised in the World
Cup.
"It's a matter for the cricket board to judge and it's a matter for
the
International Cricket Council but we are very concerned about the
decision."
Six World Cup games are scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe,
the co-host of
the tournament with South Africa.
Other nations
scheduled to play against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe are Pakistan,
the Netherlands,
India and Namibia. - Sapa-AP
Is this really the right place to send a cricket team?
England stars, on
the eve of a Zimbabwe trip, will be shielded from the
barbaric conditions
that are devastating the country
Andrew Meldrum, Harare
Sunday
December 29, 2002
The Observer
When food finally arrived at a small
shop in a township outside Zimbabwe's
capital last week, the news spread
quickly. People sprinted from their
shacks at the noise of an approaching
truck carrying maize meal, the staple
diet of the impoverished
nation.
Fights broke out as people jostled for position. Two small children
were
caught in the stampede. They were trampled underfoot. The crowd
quietened
down while the bodies were pulled clear. As the dead children were
carried
away, fights erupted again. In one brawl, a woman nearly bit the lip
off a
man.
Such scenes are commonplace today in Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe. More than
half the country's 13 million people are threatened with
starvation. Fuel is
in such short supply that business has ground to a halt.
Basic food such as
bread, eggs and sugar is so scarce that riots erupt in
supermarkets when
they appear.
But it is unlikely England's cricketers
will see any evidence of how this
once proud and prosperous nation has been
driven into the ground. Cosseted
at luxurious hotels such as the Meikles,
they will be able to choose from
five quality restaurants where copious
quantities of imported steaks, wines
and delicacies will be on
offer.
It is part of a drive to carefully cushion the visiting sportsmen
from the
harsh reality of everyday Zimbabwean life. Despite a critical fuel
shortage,
the cricket teams will be shuttled about with petrol from a special
reserve
supply. Doubtless they will be delighted by the country's
unrivalled
sub-tropical climate, the well-tended pitches and the impressive
new sports
facilities. They may ask: 'What is all the fuss
about?'
That is just what Mugabe wants. As the patron of the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union,
he has campaigned for this opportunity for his Zimbabwe to
sparkle on the
international stage. Just as he has manipulated regional
beauty pageants and
business conferences, Mugabe intends for the six World
Cup cricket matches
in Zimbabwe to be tightly stage-managed events designed
to promote a sunny,
stable image.
Most of all, the cricketers and
journalists covering the matches will be
shielded from the fact that Mugabe
is directly responsible for the famine
gripping the nation, and the torture
and political violence that threaten
every corner of the country.
In
Harare and Bulawayo, where the cricket matches will be played, the
shortage
of petrol and diesel have nearly paralysed the transport systems.
Snaking
queues of cars, trucks, taxis and buses have halted traffic on
major
thoroughfares. Mugabe's motorcade of 25 vehicles ran into a congested
queue
in downtown Harare last week and had to make a detour around
it.
Motorists have waited in queues for two days and still not been able
to buy
fuel. Workers routinely wait for hours to get to their jobs. They
often pay
triple the normal fare. Fuel is in such short supply because the
Libyan
government stopped oil deliveries after Zimbabwe did not make its
payments.
The famine threatening seven million people is a result of
Mugabe's violent
and chaotic land seizures. A continuation of food shortages
is forecast for
this year as much of the seized land remains fallow. The
acreage currently
under cultivation is only 50 per cent of Zimbabwe's
average, according to a
survey released this weekend by the Famine Early
Warning System.
Millions of rural Zimbabweans are scavenging the
countryside for berries and
roots to stave off hunger. Deaths in which
malnutrition is a contributing
factor are already being recorded and rural
hospitals and clinics report
that deaths from outright starvation are
expected.
'The fuel and the food shortages have made our lives so
difficult. We never
thought things would get this bad,' said a young office
worker who did not
want to give his name for fear of retribution. He said his
family could only
afford one meal a day.
'We all know the Mugabe
government is responsible for our suffering,' he
said. 'And we want everyone
who is watching the cricket matches to know that
too.'
The Mugabe
government is aware of that, and will restrict international
sports
journalists to reporting on the cricket matches.
Most of the thousands of
spectators expected at the cricket matches will be
from Zimbabwe's more
affluent white minority. They, too, must wait in petrol
queues, scramble for
items in short supply and cope with sky-high inflation,
now at 175 per cent.
Many ordinary Zimbabweans are too scared to speak out.
But some are
determined to show their opposition. A group is waging an
e-mail campaign to
encourage all spectators to show their disapproval of the
government by
wearing black t-shirts or armbands.
'We want to protest this brutal
government so that everyone will know that
all is not right in Zimbabwe,'
said an outraged government critic who is
also a cricket fan. 'We want to
make our unhappiness visible to
international viewers and also to Mr Mugabe.
We really don't want him to be
able to enjoy these matches.'
Iden
Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, said: 'Mugabe's
supporters are
already crowing over their latest public relations coup. With
a whip hand
over broadcasting and swathes of the print media under their
control, they
will use the presence of the cricket teams to divert attention
from shortages
and starvation while claiming international approval of their
lawless
regime.'
Blair raises pressure over Zimbabwe
game
The England team is due in Harare in
February
Tony Blair has rejected calls for the government to enforce
a ban on the England cricket team playing a world cup match in Zimbabwe.
He said there were no legal powers available to prevent the team from
travelling to Harare in February.
The decision on whether to play, the prime minister insisted in a letter to
Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, rested with the cricketing authorities
alone.
But Mr Blair repeated that the government's advice remained that the England
team should not play in Zimbabwe, because of the human rights record of
President Robert Mugabe's regime.
Guidance urged
Mr Blair has come under increasing pressure after the England and Wales
Cricket Board (ECB), team captain Nasser Hussain and the Tories all called for
the government to decide whether the match should be played.
The Australian Government has also said it opposes matches being played in
Zimbabwe, although it will not order the national team to stay away.
|
WHO WANTS WHAT |
GOVERNMENT SHOULD DECIDE: The Tories, captain Nasser
Hussain and former captain Graham Gooch
BOYCOTT: Aid minister Clare Short, several Labour MPs and
former skipper David Gower
CRICKET SHOULD DECIDE: The government and most
players
TOUR SHOULD GO AHEAD: World Cup organisers and former
skipper Mike Gatting
|
Responding
to a call from Mr Duncan Smith to provide clear guidance, Mr Blair said: "The
government's position is clear: the decision on whether England should play in
Zimbabwe rests with the England and Wales Cricket Board - an independent
sporting body.
"There are no legal powers available to the government to ban a sporting team
from participation.
"However, in the light of the deteriorating political and humanitarian
situation in the country, ministers have made clear that if the decision were
for them, England should not play in Zimbabwe."
Mr Blair said the ECB could be in no doubt about the government's position
and that it should bear in mind "the likelihood that conditions in Zimbabwe will
deteriorate further in the next six weeks".
'Moral decision'
Captain Nasser Hussain said it was "ridiculous" for the players to be left to
make "a major political judgement" about whether to travel to Harare in February
for the match.
Nobody at the government has contacted us directly to say they don't want us to
go to Zimbabwe  Tim Lamb -
ECB
|
In an interview with the
Sunday Telegraph, Nasser Hussain said the government should "set up a body of
some sort to make this moral decision on our behalf".
Former captain Graham Gooch agreed, telling BBC Radio 5 Live "the government
and the authorities should get together and come to an informed decision".
Most of the players likely to be included in the team, including Michael
Vaughan, are understood to have said they will follow guidance from the ECB.
But some, including Alec Stewart, have voiced concern about the prospect of
playing in Zimbabwe.
'Extraordinary'
The ECB and International Cricket Council (ICC) have so far said the tour
should go ahead, but stressed their decisions were made purely on grounds of
safety for the players.
Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, said the government appeared to have
belatedly changed its stance on the issue.
"Nobody at the government has contacted us directly to say they don't want us
to go to Zimbabwe," he said.
"I find that extraordinary and I am also disappointed about that,
particularly about a matter of such importance."
Systematic violence
President Mugabe has been criticised for his policy of seizing land owned by
white farmers, and for systematic violence against political opponents.
England is scheduled to play just one World Cup match in Zimbabwe, with the
rest in South Africa.
Those backing a boycott said all games should be in South Africa.
A BBC Sport Online poll suggests most members of the public think there
should be a ban on playing in Zimbabwe - with almost 78% of respondents saying
the team should not go.
The row developed after aid minister Clare Short said it would be "deplorable
and shocking" for the match to be played.
The SUN
PM's Mugabe cricket snub
By SIMON HUGHES in London
and JOHN ETHERIDGE in
Australia
TONY Blair urged England cricket chiefs last night to pull
the national team out of their World Cup match in Zimbabwe.
He said the
Government could not order the England and Wales Cricket Board not to send them,
but added:
“Ministers have made clear if the decision were for them,
England should not play in Zimbabwe.”
He added that conditions in
Zimbabwe “are likely to deteriorate further” before the scheduled match in
Harare on February 13.
Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard called on
the International Cricket Council to cancel the six World Cup matches in
Zimbabwe.
He said: “I am urging all governments, including Britain to
push for the same thing.”
England are due to play one of six matches in
Zimbabwe as part of the tournament organised by the ICC.
Mr Blair and
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw believe playing in Zimbabwe will endorse Robert
Mugabe’s brutal regime.
Mr Blair’s comments came in a letter to Tory
leader Iain Duncan Smith — but England cricket officials said they had had no
official contact from the Government.
 |
| Demand ... Tim
Lamb |
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the
ECB, said: “Nobody at the Government has contacted us directly to say they don’t
want us to go to Zimbabwe.
“I believe the Government owes us an
explanation as to why cricket should be singled out as a soft target.”
He
added: “I don’t see that playing a cricket match in Zimbabwe is any different
from the 300 or so British companies who continue to trade in that country
virtually on a daily basis.”
Mr Blair is already under fire for his soft
stance on Mugabe.
Tories say Mugabe stays in power because sanctions
imposed against him by Britain and the EU are too weak.
International
Development Secretary Clare Short said that playing cricket in Zimbabwe would be
“deplorable.”
Even David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors,
admitted: “I couldn’t go there.”
England captain Nasser Hussain called on
the Government to make a decision about what his players should do.
He
said: “The Government should set up a body to make this moral decision on our
behalf and we will abide by it.”
England will forfeit points if they
decide not to play Zimbabwe.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed also
revealed that if England withdrew it could cost the ECB
£1MILLION — the amount of lost TV revenue.
World Cup
holders Australia, India, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands are also due to
play in Zimbabwe.
The rest of the tournament is being played in South
Africa and Kenya.
No 10 fury over England cricket trip to Zimbabwe
World Cup match in
Harare 'outrageous', says Downing Street
Kamal Ahmed and Denis
Campbell
Sunday December 29, 2002
The Observer
England's decision
to compete in a crucial World Cup cricket match in
Zimbabwe was at the centre
of a furious row last night after Downing Street
indicated that the Prime
Minister did not think the team should go.
Despite publicly insisting the
decision was up to the cricketing
authorities, No 10 officials told The
Observer it was 'outrageous' that
England should play a landmark match in
Harare when President Robert Mugabe
stands accused of starving his own people
for political gain.
Officials made it clear that the Foreign Secretary,
Jack Straw, was also
against the fixture which critics say will give Mugabe,
who is also
president of his country's cricket board, a world platform to
promote his
regime.
'While it is not for us to tell the International
Cricket Council or the
England and Wales Cricket Board what to do, it is Mr
Straw's personal view
that it would be better if England didn't go,' a
Foreign Office spokesman
said.
'We ask the cricketing authorities to
reflect on the humanitarian and
political crisis that is happening in
Zimbabwe and the fact that the
situation could deteriorate over the coming
weeks.'
In a move which brings sport and politics into conflict for the
first time
since the sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa, Downing
Street
officials said they supported Straw's stance and demanded that the
cricket
board (ECB) reconsider its decision.
A spokesman said seven
million people were already facing famine in
Zimbabwe, which was in a
'humanitarian and political crisis'.
England are due to play Zimbabwe on
13 February in their opening match of
the World Cup. The visit has brought
harsh condemnation from opposition
groups in Zimbabwe, MPs in this country
and former players such as
ex-England captains David Gower and Mike
Gatting.
Yesterday Clare Short, the International Development Secretary,
increased
the pressure on the ECB when she said the decision to go was
'deplorable and
shocking'.
'An election [in Zimbabwe] has been stolen
and people are being starved
because they dared to vote freely. Our team
plans to go to Zimbabwe and play
as though all is normal.
'I think
they should not go. It is like pretending everything is okay in
Zimbabwe and
it is not.'
Zimbabwe, which has been suspended from the Commonwealth, is
accused of
state sponsored violence against its own people, which have caused
scores of
deaths.
Its opposition party, the Movement for Democratic
Change, welcomed Blair's
intervention. 'We hope it will encourage the England
players to examine
their consciences and decide not to go.
'It would
be outrageous and unethical for England to play in Zimbabwe. They
would be
playing into the hands of a dictator who will try and make
political capital
out of the event,' the MDC said.
But Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive,
said: 'Cricket is a soft target and
is being treated differently to the 300
other businesses which continue to
trade with Zimbabwe, which Ministers
aren't discouraging. There's some
double standards here.
'We don't
believe it's our position as a sporting body to make political
judgments
about the appropriateness of regimes in host countries for
playing
cricket.'
The Observer has also established that some senior
England players are
concerned at the prospect of having to play in Harare.
Sources close to the
squad say vice-captain Alec Stewart 'is totally against
playing there
because it would help Mugabe', while batsman Mark Butcher and
others have
serious reservations.
Richard Bevan, of the Professional
Cricketers' Association, the players'
union, said England would almost
certainly refuse to go if the Government
made a clear statement opposing the
visit.
Virtually no England fans are expected to go to Zimbabwe after the
Foreign
Office warned British visitors to avoid 'public events' there for
fear of
violence.
The growing opposition to England's visit was
underlined last night when
Mike Gatting, the former England captain who led a
tour to South Africa in
1990 in defiance of protests, said the Government
should prevent the team
going, taking the decision out of the players'
hands.
'If the Government thinks it's wrong for England to have sporting
ties with
Zimbabwe, Mr Blair should stop teams going there. Why put the onus
on the
players?', said Gatting, an Observer sports columnist.
Cricket's chance to shame Mugabe
Move the World Cup from
Zimbabwe
Leader
Sunday December 29, 2002
The Observer
When
England's cricketers arrive in Zimbabwe to play in the World Cup in
February,
they will not be shown any of the abuses of a country increasingly
regarded
as an international pariah. They will be insulated from the murder,
torture
and repression used daily against the opposition. It is unlikely
that their
hosts will mention that journalists are prevented by both law and
force from
reporting events that do not suit President Robert Mugabe's
agenda, or that
entire areas that voted for the opposition are denied food
in a country
sliding daily towards humanitarian disaster.
The International Cricket
Council, the game's ruling body, was wrong to
award Zimbabwe six of the World
Cup matches. It has compounded its error by
insisting that the fixtures
should go ahead simply because there is no
perceived risk to players' safety.
But this is about much more than safety.
Mugabe - the patron of the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union - will almost certainly
exploit such a prestigious event to
attempt to prove falsely to the outside
world that his country is, if not
normal, then certainly in much better
shape than critics
allege.
Mugabe should not be given the opportunity to distort Zimbabwe's
grim
realities in this way. Until now, international disapproval of
Mugabe's
regime has been restricted to suspension from the Commonwealth and
limited
sanctions, none economic, by the EU and United States. So far, no
country
has imposed a sporting boycott. It is time that position changed.
While
sport should strive to remain above politics, sporting boycotts must
be
available as a sign of our disapproval - as a last resort and on
a
case-by-case basis. Nelson Mandela acknowledged that refusals to play
South
Africa in official matches helped isolate the apartheid
regime.
The ICC still has the opportunity to move the six matches to
South Africa
with a minimum of disruption to the tournament. Mugabe's odious
behaviour
demands that none of the World Cup matches should be held in his
country.
But our government also needs to put spine into its policy on
Zimbabwe. It
is not good enough for Tony Blair to distance himself from this
issue. The
England and Wales Cricket Board complains, perhaps understandably,
that it
is a victim of double standards - that Ministers urge it to shun
Zimbabwe
while making no such pleas to the 300 British companies which trade
there.
But if the Government, and the wider international community, is
serious
about ending Mugabe's tyranny, now is the time to take action which
will
help restore democracy to Zimbabwe and honour to cricket.
UK Independent
Cricketers 'urged to boycott Zimbabwe'
By Paul Waugh Deputy Political Editor
30 December 2002
The Government made a desperate attempt to distance itself from the England
cricket team's decision to travel to Zimbabwe yesterday when it said it had
"asked" players not to go.
Mike O'Brien, a Foreign Office Minister, said: "We cannot order the ECB
[England and Wales Cricket Board] not to go to Zimbabwe, but we have asked them
not to go. The final decision must rest with them. Our opinion is clear – given
the abuse of human rights and the dire circumstances of the people of Zimbabwe,
it would be wrong to play a game of cricket there."
The Foreign Office also said that Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, had told
the ECB just before Christmas that he did not want the team to compete in the
World Cup in Harare.
Mr O'Brien's remarks, made as Downing Street finally came out against the
tour, represent a significant hardening of the Government's line. On 17
December, Mr O'Brien said: "My personal view is that it would be better if they
did not go."
In a last-ditch attempt to find a solution before the tournament starts on 13
February, David Graveney, chairman of the selectors, yesterday urged ministers
to hold an emergency meeting with the players.
With a possible £5m in income at stake, the ECB is determined to go. It also
does not want the responsibility for a racial split in the International Cricket
Council by leading a boycott by "white Commonwealth" countries such as Australia
and New Zealand.
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the ECB, criticised the Government for changing
its stance without consulting the team. "Nobody at the Government has contacted
us directly to say they don't want us to go to Zimbabwe. I find that
extraordinary and I am also disappointed, particularly about a matter of such
importance. We should at least have an opportunity to put our point of view
across.''
UK Independent
Healing the scar on the conscience of the world demands
leadership now
30 December 2002
Leadership is easy when people are begging to be told what to do. Thus the
Prime Minister's failure to demonstrate this important quality over the England
cricket team's matches in Zimbabwe is all the more puzzling.
Nasser Hussain's somewhat unedifying plea yesterday for someone else to make
an "informed moral judgement" for him should have prompted an instant response
from Tony Blair. Yet he left it to the Foreign Office minister, Mike O'Brien, to
underline the disapproval previously expressed by Clare Short and various
unnamed spokesmen by reiterating that it is not up to the Government, but that
the Foreign Office would prefer it if England didn't go.
It is not as if this were a question that has suddenly sprung from between
the paving stones and demanded an instant decision. The Independent called on Mr
Blair in August to ask the cricketing authorities to refuse to play in Zimbabwe
in February. Richard Caborn, the sports minister, had merely asked the England
and Wales Cricket Board to "reconsider" it.
Since then, Mr Caborn has shown all the moral fibre of a wet blanket, saying
it was up to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to decide whether the World
Cup "pool" matches should be played in Zimbabwe. Yet the ICC only decided that
it would be safe for players and journalists, which is not the issue at all.
The real issue is this: anyone committed to democracy and human rights should
refuse to confer legitimacy on Robert Mugabe's odious regime in Zimbabwe. He is
a tyrant who has ruined his country, starved his people and stolen an
election.
In the endless debate between engagement and isolation, the Cricket World Cup
is an easy call: don't go. Dictators crave international respectability and this
competition will give it to this dictator. A boycott, on the other hand, would
draw attention to his pariah status. On a more cynical level, it is not even as
if the England team has much chance of winning.
Yes, there are counter-arguments. An England boycott would reinforce Mr
Mugabe's anti-white and anti-British propaganda. But we have moved beyond such
fine calculations by now.
This sporting event has become a test of the fine sentiments expressed in the
rich world about Africa. For it became even clearer yesterday that the whole
continent cannot be written off as a basket case run by dictators, in which
corruption is endemic and any aid effort doomed simply to line the pockets of a
plutocracy.
In Kenya, power changed hands in a peaceful clear-out on the classic
democratic model. Daniel Arap Moi was one of the Mugabe generation of African
leaders, once hailed as an enlightened and benevolent ruler but whose record
faltered. As corruption spread, Kenya faced a choice between the slide into
tyranny or democratic renewal. Mr Moi, deeply unpopular as he was, proved
himself in his eventual decision to bow out.
It was Mr Blair who rightly declared last year: "The state of Africa is a
scar on the conscience of the world. But if the world as a community focused on
it, we could heal it." On the symbolic but important question of whether England
should play cricket in Zimbabwe, he has failed to focus on it.
It now seems inevitable that the England players and managers will decide
among themselves not to go. But their decision would have had much more impact
if it had been led by a clear request from the Prime Minister some time ago to
help to isolate the Mugabe regime.
Sky Sports
GRAVENEY: THINK ABOUT NOT GOING TO
ZIMBABWE
Chairman of
selectors David Graveney does not think England should
play their scheduled
World Cup match in Zimbabwe.
England are due to face Zimbabwe in
Harare on February 13 in their
opening group game of the
tournament.
But Graveney told the News of the World: "I hope our
cricketers take a
serious look at the whole issue and implications before
they sign their
World Cup contracts.
"Sportsmen can't live life
in a bubble. Every player has to make up
his own mind. I can't tell them
`don't go' but if you asked me as an
individual I would not go to
Zimbabwe.
"And I think people are being presumptuous to assume our
cricketers
will just jump on a plane and go.
"I will not be
seeking assurances from players that they will go to
Zimbabwe before we name
our World Cup squad. We'll do our job on a
cricketing basis."
The International Cricket Council decided to press ahead with the
scheduled
Zimbabwe-based fixtures after a delegation reported there were no
problems
with safety arrangements.
Sports minister Richard Caborn has
insisted the decision on whether
teams should play in Zimbabwe must be made
by the ICC.
Cabinet minister Clare Short has described the ICC
decision to let
England's cricketers play in Zimbabwe as "deplorable and
shocking".
BBC
Aid minister backs cricket boycott
England's players are coming under
pressure
The International Development Secretary Clare Short is
urging England's cricketers not to play in Zimbabwe in the World Cup next year.
She said it would be wrong to go there, because of the way the government was
treating supporters of the opposition.
She joins a growing list of sports personalities and politicians who have
called for a boycott of the World Cup matches in the African country.
Downing Street also repeated calls for the cricketers to "reflect" on the
decision, but said it was not for politicians to tell the players what to do.
 |
It's
like pretending everything is OK in Zimbabwe and it isn't Clare Short
|
Ms Short told BBC Five Live she would be contacting Tessa Jowell, the
minister in charge of sport.
"I don't think they should go," she said.
"It's like pretending everything is OK in Zimbabwe and it isn't.
"The government is destroying its country and massively damaging its people
and not feeding hungry people.
"How can you go and play a game of cricket in that?"
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's policy of forced redistribution of land
owned by white farmers, as well as his failure to conduct fair elections earlier
this year, has resulted in European Union sanctions being imposed on his ruling
Zanu PF party.
Former England captain David Gower voiced concern about the cricketers going
there earlier this month.
'Immense injustice'
He said England and Australia should take a moral stand against Robert
Mugabe's government.
"I don't think it is right that England should be playing a match in Harare
on 13 February, 2003, or on any other day while the Robert Mugabe regime remains
in power in Zimbabwe," Gower said.
"I don't often allow myself to be dragged into the political arena, but there
is something about this situation that makes me angry.
"I know Zimbabwe well enough to be aware of the immense injustice there."
Downing Street asked the players to think about the "humanitarian and
political crisis" inside Zimbabwe, but said ministers could not prevent them
playing.
"Seven million people are already in need of food assistance," a Number 10
spokesman said.
"We ask them to reflect on this, but ultimately... it is not for government
to tell the cricketing authorities what to do."
Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe have supported a boycott but the English
Cricket Board has defended its decision to resist the boycott, saying it does
not make match decisions on political grounds.
PM urges rethink on Zimbabwe games
PRIME Minister John Howard today urged the
International Cricket Council (ICC) to reconsider using Zimbabwe as a venue for
games in the upcoming World Cup.
The Australian government has joined the
British government in opposing teams playing in Zimbabwe because of human rights
and electoral abuses by President Robert Mugabe.
However the federal
government says the decision on whether to play should rest with cricket
authorities, who have pledged to press ahead with playing six games in the
African country, including Australia's match in Bulawayo on March 23.
Mr
Howard today said he believed Zimbabwe should be boycotted but that Australia's
cricketers should not act alone in refusing to play there.
The ICC has
said teams which boycott Zimbabwe on political grounds will forfeit match
points.
"This should be a case of all in or all out," Mr Howard told the
Nine Network.
"If you get a situation where some teams play in Zimbabwe
and some teams don't, the teams that don't play in Zimbabwe might be
disadvantaged in the competition.
"I would hope that the ICC would
revisit this issue. I am disappointed that they took the decision they did." Mr
Howard said he understood that the ICC decision to proceed with playing in
Zimbabwe was difficult and that it tended to look only at the issue of player
safety.
"In the end there are some broader issued involved here," he
said.
"You have a completely illegitimate undemocratic stolen government
in Zimbabwe. That was the most rigged election in years and that has been
attested to by all manner of international opinion.
"You have appalling
human rights abuses occurring in that country."
Mr Howard said he hoped
the ICC would take that all into account.
He said it was in the end a
decision to be made by the international cricket community.
"This is an
international competition. This is not just Australia visiting Zimbabwe or
Australia visiting Pakistan," he said.
"If we take a decision in
isolation from decisions of other governments, than that can create a situation
where you have one team playing and another team not.
"What I am saying
to the International Cricket Council is please look at this again and I hope
other governments including the British government say exactly the same
thing."
Zimbabwe boycott call angers cricket world
Dec 30 2002
James Lyons & Pat Hurst, The Western
Mail
ENGLAND'S cricketing chief last night attacked the Government
for changing its stance on Zimbabwe without consulting the team.
No 10 has backed Cabinet minister Clare Short's call for a
boycott of World Cup matches in protest at Robert Mugabe's regime.
But Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales
Cricket Board, said the move had taken players and managers by surprise.
And Tony Blair was challenged to end the confusion in a
letter from Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.
Speaking from Sydney, where England are on tour, Tim Lamb
said, "Nobody at the Government has contacted us directly to say they don't want
us to go to Zimbabwe.
"I find that extraordinary and I am also disappointed about
that, particularly about a matter of such importance.
"We should at least have an opportunity to put our point of
view across on this issue as well as listening to their thoughts.
"We need to get a clear under-standing of why they have
changed their stance."
England captain Nasser Hussain has pleaded for his players to
be spared the decision on whether to travel to Zimbabwe where food shortages are
being used to starve Mugabe's opponents.
"It must be right that the decision is made at a higher level
than sport, by a government body," he wrote in his Sunday Telegraph column.
"Even if it means that England will forfeit points by not
playing in Zimbabwe, that would be willingly done if the Government believes it
right that England should not play."
. ..................................................
Comment - page 12
. ..................................................
Iain Duncan Smith wrote the Government mishandled the issue
"in a dangerous and neglectful way". "The England and Wales Cricket Board and
our cricketers have looked for guidance and political advice from the government
and have received none," he said.
"It is time for the government to act with clarity and
purpose and give a lead to the English cricket team and the rest of the
world."
Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien said while ministers
want a boycott they cannot impose one.
Harare fans and politicians also divided
From Michael Hartnack in Harare and Daniel
McGrory
ZIMBABWE’S cricket fans and politicians are
divided over whether the England team should boycott World Cup games in Harare.
Many sports followers say that watching England play would be a welcome
respite from food shortages and violence.
Peter Chingoka, president of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, said his officials’
stance that the country was a safe venue had been vindicated by the ICC tour of
inspection. “We are cricketers and we don’t deal with politics,” he said.
A veteran white cricketer, who asked not to be named, said yesterday:
“Mugabe’s aim . . . has been to destroy civil society. Sportsmen, artists and
academics who come here help to rebuild it — so let the cricketers play.” A
pressure group in Harare has promised mass demonstrations at England’s games,
and Trudy Stevenson, an MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
which favours a boycott, yesterday applauded Clare Short’s stand against the
matches. “If you allow these matches to go ahead and Mugabe sits there as patron
of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, you are endorsing his regime,” she
said.