ICC president Ehsan Mani has responded to a letter from the UK Government’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jack Straw, and The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, which raised concerns over future tours to the country.
In his reply Mani wrote: “The issue of cricket tours to Zimbabwe is one that the Board of the International Cricket Council has considered on several occasions, most recently at its meeting in Dublin on the 29th June.”
“Over the course of these discussions the Board has reached a firm policy decision that is enshrined in the ICC’s regulations dealing with the Future Tours Programme (FTP) to which you refer.
“The Board recognises that issues concerning the relationships between countries are driven by politicians and governments that are elected to deal with these political issues."
He went on: "Our members accept and respect that where a national government prevents its national cricket team from fulfilling a touring commitment, which will usually be done through legislation, the obligations of the FTP will not apply."
But he added “where governments fail to give this directive, the wish of all our members that is unanimously expressed in the FTP regulations, is that cricket matches should continue between our members".
Mani pointed out that the ICC is made up of 96 members from across the world with "a wide range of views and political systems with a common interest in playing cricket".
The ICC has also received letters from the Governments of New Zealand and Australia in the past two months raising similar points to those raised in the letter from the UK Government.
