'Worsening' Zimbabwe situation tops ICC agenda

David Morgan: "The executive board decided by a substantial majority politics and cricket should not mix. For matters to move forward there will have to be a change in that regard."

The volatile issue of Zimbabwe cricket, the country's politics and its status as a Full Member of the ICC with voting rights is the first listed item on the main agenda for the ICC's annual meeting, to be held in Dubai over the next week. The ICC on Friday said the "worsening situation within the country" prompted the president, Ray Mali, to place the issue on the agenda.

Some Full Member nations have already started sending out informal feelers to fellow members to gauge their position on the issue, though an idea of where these discussions are headed has come from the BCCI, which has indicated that it is unlikely to support any stringent action against Zimbabwe.

"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."

A two-thirds majority vote within the ICC board - seven out of 10 votes - is needed for any resolution to be moved on Zimbabwe. That includes suspending them from full membership, which would see them lose access to a significant chunk of ICC funding and valuable voting rights. But the BCCI heads a powerful group within the ICC and has traditionally enjoyed the support of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, who are all Full Members - and Zimbabwe.

Yet, amid talk of various compromise options and even a potential face-off on the issue - the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has already taken a hard line stance on Zimbabwe - the surprise of the past week is the u-turn by Cricket South Africa, which was till recently a strong backer of its neighbouring country's cricket, irrespective of its politics.

CSA shifted position on Monday, citing the worsening political situation there, and cut off all bilateral ties with Zimbabwe. Later, Norman Arendse, the CSA president, described this action as a move to pressurise the Zimbabwe government run by Robert Mugabe, whom he accused of "doing everything he can to stop a free and fair election".

Within two days, the ECB scrapped its 2009 home series with Zimbabwe following an advisory from their government, and in the process put a question mark on hosting them for next year's World Twenty20. The ECB later said in a press release that it "deplores the position in Zimbabwe and, like Cricket South Africa, finds this untenable. Therefore all bilateral arrangements are suspended with Zimbabwe Cricket with immediate effect."

This line of thought seems to have gained acceptance with some in the ICC administration, too, especially after the unpleasant situation following a previous meeting which decided not take any specific action against Zimbabwe's cricket officials based on the results of an independent financial audit that pointed to irregularities in utilisation of funds.

Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, failed to turn up for the press conference that followed the decision and was subsequently asked by the ICC board to go on paid leave till the end of his tenure this month-end after differences with the top brass over Zimbabwe.

Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, David Morgan, who will take over from Mali as ICC president at the end of the annual meeting, welcomed action against Zimbabwe but warned: "It will be a very difficult discussion. India and Zimbabwe are close and India's position is crucial in all this, for sure."

Morgan added: "I reminded myself this morning of a meeting of the executive board just a year ago when the subject of how member countries are governed was on the table. The executive board decided by a substantial majority politics and cricket should not mix. For matters to move forward there will have to be a change in that regard."