CAPE TOWN (Reuters)
Tours by South Africa and England to Zimbabwe will go ahead this year as scheduleddespite calls for them to be cancelled because of political violence in the country, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) has said.

The country has been gripped by increasing unrest in the last week with land invasions of white-owned farms, which have sparked renewed political upheaval.

South Africa are due to play two Tests and three one-day internationals in September, while England will play five limited overs matches in October.

"There is no question that we will cancel these tours," ZCU chief executive Dave Ellman-Brown told Reuters. "Obviously we are watching the political situation carefully as it has been a difficult week, but there is not even a suggestion that the tours will be called off.

"We have to be cautious, but the problems have not spilled over into the cities and both Harare and Bulawayo (where the matches will be played) are very peaceful. I will be sending my personal assurances to both the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) and the English Cricket Board (ECB) later today."

The secretary of the British parliamentary sports group, Gareth Thomas MP, had called for England to pull out of the tour. "To play cricket matches in a country where the government is clearly condoning violence against its own opponents must be questionable," Thomas is quoted as saying in Tuesday's Times paper. "Unless the situation improves dramatically this tour should be cancelled."

But the ECB said they have no plans to call off the tour. "We're still planning to go ahead with the tour. We're monitoring the situation on a daily basis and will guided by Foreign Office advice," an ECB spokesman said on Tuesday.

The Foreign Office confirmed that the ECB had contacted them. "They were obviously aware the situation is volatile. We agreed to keep in touch. That is as far as it goes," said a spokesman. "Our relationship with them is the same as with any citizen. We can give our best assessment but in the end whether they decide to travel is up to them."

The current Foreign Office advice about travelling to Zimbabwe merely warns tourists to avoid political demonstrations and against "visiting the high-density suburbs of the major towns".

On Monday the UCBSA confirmed that South Africa would go ahead with the tour unless the ZCU or the South Africa government ordered them not to.

If the tours were lost due to the current situation, the impact on Zimbabwean cricket would be massive. "If the tours did not go ahead the financial loss would be huge," Ellman-Brown said. "We have already sold the television rights for both tours so the potential loss of income could be crippling.

"From a playing point of view it would also be severe as our guys have a tough season ahead and need all the matches they can to prepare themselves for their away tours which follow these."

Zimbabwe's former captain and key middle order batsman Andy Flower also offered a confident endorsement of the tours going ahead. "Zimbabwe is a safe place to play cricket," Flower told Reuters. "I believe these problems are far away from anywhere that a cricket team would visit. "I don't think it would be a problem and they would enjoy their tour here just as any other teams would."

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