SPORTS EDGE

Cricket
ICC still undecided
CricInfo, undated

The ICC board meeting will re-convene for an unscheduled third day on Friday to take up the Zimbabwe issue, with today's discussions failing to reach any conclusion.Most of the second day of its annual conference in Dubai was spent tackling the issue of Zimbabwe's status within the ICC. Lunch was delayed by an hour as cricket's most powerful officials sought to reach a consensus. "We are right in the middle of the issue," one official present at the discussion told Cricinfo, "but nothing has been decided yet."The Zimbabwe issue was taken up after the board discussed the security report on Pakistan -- with respect to the Champions Trophy later this year -- and saw various official presentations.Zimbabwe's status in the ICC was not officially discussed on Wednesday, though it dominated the talk on the sidelines. A compromise is believed to have been identified -- that Zimbabwe stay out of the World Twenty20 to be held in England next year but retain its Full Member status -- but did not gain acceptance among the various board representatives gathered at the Westin Hotel.There can be three different possible scenarios of resolutions. If Zimbabwe are allowed to participate, The UK government is likely to act on its threat to bar the team entry into the country. The tournament will be moved elsewhere but England -- maybe Australia and New Zealand too -- may refuse to participate. Shifting the tournament will entail a loss of £10 million for their inability to host the tournament on political grounds.If Zimbabwe are not allowed to participate, they will protest that by saying they have the sporting credentials to participate.There is a strong possibility for the matter to be put on vote. If that happens, whatever the resolution, it will need seven votes out of the ten Full Members -- though that changes to six out of nine if Zimbabwe are not allowed to vote. England can count on South Africa, New Zealand and Australia; India can count on Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sri Lanka are likely to go with India but the ECB has the carrot of an out-of-turn series in England next year. West Indies' position is unclear but they may lean towards England.