English cricket stands to lose an estimated £10 million if the ICC World Twenty20 is moved elsewhere next year because Zimbabwe are not allowed in to participate. Against this background the ECB must persuade ICC members at a critical meeting today that the crisis in the country warrants Zimbabwe’s removal from the international schedule.

According to an ECB spokesman, tickets have sold strongly since being put on the market on Monday and although the board will keep only a share of the income, they are also guaranteed a staging fee of about £1 million from the ICC with spin-offs from corporate entertaining and catering next June and July.

The ECB delegation of Giles Clarke, the chairman, and David Collier, the chief executive, will be able to use the rush for tickets to show that the event in 2009 could be even better than the inaugural tournament in South Africa last year, which was a huge success despite grounds being half-full on occasions. But the ICC will move the tournament away from England if Zimbabwe are denied visas.

While the Government is yet to state categorically that the squad will be barred from entering the country next year, its position would look contradictory if it did allow them entry having said last week that Zimbabwe will not be permitted to play in a bilateral series next May.

England players and the ECB welcomed the government directive and it is unlikely that they would participate in the World Twenty20 event if it is held in another country as long as Zimbabwe compete, even though the teams are not seeded to meet in the first stage and Zimbabwe would struggle to make the Super Eights.

The ECB wants the initiative at the meeting to come from elsewhere and have adopted a policy of quiet diplomacy around the Asian bloc of countries who hold the key to the outcome. Last night, ICC delegates gathered at a function in Dubai, well aware of the policy they adopted last year that politics and sport should not mix.

The best hope for the ECB appeared to be in informal talks between Cricket South Africa (CSA) — the prime movers in the decision to put the item on the agenda — and Zimbabwe. The countries have worked closely in the past and CSA, with African opinion hardening against their neighbours, may be able to persuade Zimbabwe to accept some form of compromise.

The ECB and the Government want Zimbabwe’s expulsion from all international matches, but this would need support from seven of the ten countries. An alternative is for Zimbabwe, already out of the Test fold, to accept suspension from all one-day cricket because of poor performances. They could then retain their ICC voting rights and status and continue to receive a share-out of money.

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