Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, confirmed yesterday in a letter to Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, that the Government will not allow Zimbabwe into Britain for the proposed 2009 tour. It was the letter that the ECB had long hoped for and it prompted the governing body to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe Cricket.

Burnham outlined the Government’s growing unease about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe and the failure of President Robert Mugabe’s regime to hold free and fair elections and to uphold the rule of law. Burnham indicated that the Government's policy is to try to persuade the wider international community to take firmer action against Zimbabwe and because of that it would be inappropriate to allow the 2009 tour to take place.

Burnham indicated that, by taking such action, the ECB will not have to suffer any financial penalties that may have been imposed by the ICC had the Government not intervened and players will be prevented from making awkward, personal judgments.

Yesterday’s action by the Government does not, however, stretch to preventing Zimbabwe from entering the country for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament due to take place in June 2009. While the public may find it difficult to accept how different moral judgments can be made for different events, the Government’s position is that the World Twenty20, like the Olympic Games, is an international event and therefore it has no jurisdiction over its entrants. Accordingly, Burnham urged the ECB to work with the ICC in bringing a swift outcome to the situation at the ICC’s meeting next week in Dubai.

After receiving Burnham’s letter, the ECB released a statement stating its concern over the “lack of human rights in Zimbabwe”. Only now, after years of human rights abuses, has the ECB found the courage to speak. It appears that it is fine to be moral, as long as it does not cost you money.

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