In the face of growing criticism that the International Cricket Council should allow World Cup matches to be staged in Zimbabwe, chief executive Malcolm Speed has once again defended the decision taken after a fact-finding delegation to Zimbabwe recommended that the World Cup schedule should stand.

There has been widespread criticism that cricket's governing body should be allowing matches to be played in Zimbabwe while there is such widespread political unrest and a threatened famine in the country as a result of the breakdown of the agricultural system. Much of the blame for that breakdown is attributed to government policy.

However, Speed has re-stated the ICC stance on the issue. "The ICC is a cricket organisation and we make decisions based on cricket issues. We are not a political organisation.

"We looked at the cricket issues, particularly safety and security of players and officials and ultimately we were satisfied there is no good reason to transfer these matches away from Harare and Bulawayo.

"There have been instances in the past where there have been sanctions or sporting boycotts imposed by governments or groups of politicians, but there have been no such sanctions here.

"If we make political judgements on the countries who play cricket we would spend a lot of time doing it and there would be several countries where there would be similar doubts raised about whether we should play there.

"We are there to put on cricket matches and promote cricket and Zimbabwe is a valuable country for us. There are a lot of people there who will take great pleasure from watching these cricket matches and in times of difficulty in a country like Zimbabwe we think it has a positive benefit."

An added difficulty is that the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, is also patron to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. As such, it is possible that he will attend some of the matches staged in his country. Speed reacted to that by saying, "Wherever we play there are politicians who come to the cricket and take a political advantage out of their country hosting the events in their country.

"Mr Mugabe may turn up at one of the matches. We are not going to invite him but he is president of the country in which we are playing and if he were to come along he is well and truly entitled to do that."

Speed was talking to BBC Radio Five, while former England captain and now commentator David Gower has called for both England and Australia to make a stand against playing in Zimbabwe.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said, "I don't think it is right that England should be playing a match in Harare on February 13, 2003, or on any other day while the Robert Mugabe regime remains in power in Zimbabwe.

"Nor do I think the Australians, as the other main Commonwealth nation involved in the same World Cup group, should honour their fixture in Bulawayo 11 days later.

"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.

"The government alone has the power to initiate a decision, and if British sport is to be seen to have any soul, or even the British nation, then the government must advise the ECB to seek permission to play the match elsewhere.

"I want to see Zimbabwe thrive again one day as a nation first and as a cricket nation second. Much though I would like to agree with Heath Streak, a man in the thick of it as a farmer and a cricketer, when he beseeches us to come and play cricket, I feel it is more important for his country that a stand is made."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Ancram supports Gower's stand and has contacted England captain Nasser Hussain suggesting that his side should refuse to play in Zimbabwe.

According to The Mail on Sunday, the letter to Hussain states: "The decision to proceed with matches in Zimbabwe is morally, humanly and rationally wrong.

"I ask you to reconsider the apparent decision of the England team to play there. In a country where there is a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing, electoral fraud, brutality, rape, murder and the organised starvation of millions, all at the hands of the patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, Robert Mugabe, it is hard to see how playing these matches can do other than harm.

"Your presence will be seen and used by Mugabe as an endorsement of his brutality. You will probably even be required to shake his blood-drenched hand."

There is no report of any reply from the England captain who, as a matter of policy, stands back from political comment and confines his statements to purely cricketing matters.

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