I'm sure you've all seen the story. The Australian government have told the Australian Cricket Board that they don't want Australia to tour Zimbabwe.
So should Governments have any say over sporting bodies. Hypothetically, the passports of the Australian side could be confiscated to prevent them touring.
Will not going make any difference to Zimbabwean politics? Zimbabwean cricket? Will playing the game at a neutral venue change anything? The sad thing is Zimbabwean cricket 5 years ago was starting to show some signs of promise. I can't see it recovering in the next 10 or 20 years even if Mugabe was removed today.
I'm no fan of Howard (he always looks to me as if he's missed his calling as a second-rate rugby league commentator), but I think on this one he's called it right. Cricket Australia won't suffer financially, at least. It won't remove Mugabe from power but it will at least stop him using the tour for propaganda purposes.
I think it was Matthew Hoggard who, when he was in Zim a few years ago, was asked by a journalist how he was finding his time in Zimbabwe. He instinctively replied that, yeah, it was nice and he was enjoying it, and then saw his quote as the next morning's headline in a Pro-Zanu-PF newspaper.
Hopefully now all other countries will follow suit. Don't know how it will affect Zimbabwean cricket, but SA didn't do too badly on their return from exile in the 90's. If the best players can get contracts abroad, then hopefully we could see a team being reassembled once a less dictatorial government is in place.
