 ICC wants Australia, Zimbabwe to explore possibility of neutral venue
14th May 2007 14:43 IST
Agencies
Terming the Australian government's decision to ban their national team's tour of Zimbabwe as "unfortunate", the international cricket council on Sunday asked the two boards to explore the possibility of holding the series at a neutral venue.
"It is unfortunate for Zimbabwe's cricketers and supporters, all of whom need exposure to top-quality cricket in order to develop as players and to encourage future generations to take up the sport," ICC Chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Sunday.
The John Howard government announced on Sunday it was banning the Australia cricket team from touring Zimbabwe later this year.
"It is not the role of the ICC to make political judgments. That is for politicians; the ICC is a sporting organisation and our role is to ensure that the game of cricket is played wherever possible," said Speed.
"Our policy has been consistent since 2004 as, under the terms of the future tours programme agreement, if the government of one of the members refuses 'to grant a consent, exemption, approval or clearance or imposes any restriction or prohibition' on its team to tour another country, these circumstances constitute acceptable non-compliance," he said.
"In this instance, it appears, the Australian government has acted in this way."
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