SPORTS EDGE

Cricket
Zimbabwe skip T20 WC
Retained as full ICC member
Agencies, Dubai

Zimbabwe Cricket president Peter Chingoka (C) poses for a group picture with Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor (R) and Cricket Kenya chairman Samir Inamdar at a hotel in Dubai yesterday. Photo: AFPZimbabwe have agreed to skip next year's World Twenty20 in England to end a deadlock over demands that the African nation be suspended, the International Cricket Council said on Friday.The ICC Executive Board, which sat for an unscheduled third day, agreed to keep Zimbabwe in its fold after the African nation acceded to India's request to pull out of next year's World Twenty20 championships in England."We have decided to pull out in the larger interests of the game," Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, told Cricinfo. "We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers; we will attend only those weddings to which we are invited."While England and South Africa reportedly wanted Zimbabwe suspended from the ICC, the Asian bloc -- led by the game's commercial powerhouse India -- opposed the move.With India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh supporting Zimbabwe, the rival group led by England was unable to garner the 7-3 majority among the 10 full members required to suspend the African nation."We have consulted and exchanged notes with everybody, including our Indian friends, last night," Chingoka said. "We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India."The ICC said in a statement that Zimbabwe's decision to withdraw from the Twenty20 Worlds in June next year was a "one-off and will not be taken as a precedent.""The Zimbabwe delegation has agreed to take this decision in the greater interest of world cricket and the ICC," the statement said.Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will remain a full member of the ICC, officials said on Friday, after the deeply-divided world body worked out a last-minute compromise."The full membership of Zimbabwe is currently not in doubt," incoming ICC president David Morgan of England told reporters at the conclusion of the council's executive board meeting."There was not even a discussion on the issue of Zimbabwe's membership," he said."Everybody stands to benefit from the decision," said Morgan."Zimbabwe will be entitled to participation fees in the tournament like any other member. The ICC could not jeopardise the tournament."British Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed the decision."I welcome the suspension of Zimbabwe from ICC tournaments for a year. This will allow the Twenty20 tournament in England to go ahead."It also sends a powerful message to Zimbabwe that the Government must change or face further isolation."The cricket boards of South Africa and England last week suspended bilateral ties with Zimbabwe in protest at the deteriorating political situation in Harare, where President Robert Mugabe was controversially re-elected.Incoming ICC Chief Executive Officer Haroon Lorgat meanwhile said that the ICC should not get involved in politics."We cannot as a sports body be mixing sports with politics ... They should be kept separate," Lorgat told reporters following the meeting in Dubai.