The ICC has reiterated its decision to retain the handful of games scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe despite continued pressure against the current political regime in the country led by the Australian government in a bid to move the matches to South Africa, the tournament's main host nation.
ICC vice-president Ehsan Mani stated that in order for the games to be moved away from Zimbabwe, seven of the ten Test-playing countries' cricket boards would have to agree and not one of them had made a formal approach to the ICC regarding such a switch.
The Australian government has doubled its efforts to apply pressure on both its own cricket board and the ICC following the murder of an Australian tourist in Zimbabwe at the weekend.
A spokesman for the Australian government commented: "The death is certainly a reminder of the wider concerns that we have about security in Zimbabwe and the deteriorating political and economic environment."
The World Cup is scheduled to get under way in mid-February.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is standing its ground against renewed calls for World Cup matches to be moved from Zimbabwe.
