Zimbabwe isolation imminent?

[aydee]

I'm afraid to say that if ZIm get completely isolated, I think it will be the end of cricket in the country. There will instantly be no money whatsoever within the game, and it is struggling to fund games as it is. Therefore all provincial and national team cricket will disappear overnight, as will any cricket at all bar the richest schools and clubs. The whole national team will leave either the country or the game for good, and no youngsters will take it up seriously, as there is no prospect of a job at the end of the line...

Future looks very bleak. Cricket in Zim needs help, not punishment for circumstances beyond its control.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

It looks like Zimbabwe may live to fight another day, with India's backing:

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci-icc/ ... 58420.html

BCCI 'would like fully support' Zimbabwe
Ajay S Shankar
June 28, 2008

In its first official reaction to the Zimbabwe issue, which tops the agenda for the ICC's annual meeting in Dubai next week, the Indian board has said it "would like to fully support" Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on the issue of full membership of the world governing body. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, added, however, that the board will go by the Indian government's guidelines when it comes to specific cricket tours and interactions with Zimbabwe.

"We are very clear that we would like to fully support Zimbabwe on the issue of full membership of the ICC," Shah told Cricinfo. "We are aware that some member boards want Zimbabwe's membership taken away, but we are with Zimbabwe on this. However, we also understand the positions taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) as they were prompted by the advice of the governments in those countries. We do not blame them as they are bound by what their governments decide. But our position is very clear on the issue of full membership and we would like to totally support Zimbabwe on that."

Shah, who will also be attending the Dubai conference, confirmed that the Indian board has not got any guidelines from its government so far on the Zimbabwe issue. "We will go by our government's guidelines, which will be applicable to specific tours and interactions with Zimbabwe, but nothing has come so far," he said.

With the BCCI officially clarifying its stand on the issue, it becomes extremely difficult for the ICC board to decide any stringent action against Zimbabwe next week. A two-thirds majority vote within the ICC board - seven out of 10 votes - is needed for any resolution to be moved on Zimbabwe. That includes suspending them from full membership, which would see them lose access to a significant chunk of ICC funding and valuable voting rights.

The ECB and CSA have suspended all ties with Zimbabwe cricket, and are pushing to shut the door on Zimbabwe but the BCCI is now expected to lean on its traditional vote bank of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to prevent any such move. Duleep Mendis, the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, told Cricinfo that they are "yet to take a final decision as all this happened over the last 2-3 days."

Zimbabwe and India make 2 of the 4 needed to block any motion to isolate Zimbabwe. If any 2 of Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka vote with India, then Zimbabwe will be safe. It appears that Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa will vote together against Zimbabwe, perhaps joined by West Indies.

[maehara]

Pakistan have also confirmed they'll be supporting Zimbabwe, and I can't see either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh voting against the 'Asian bloc', so my guess at this stage is that Zimbabwe will live to fight another day.

Should be interesting to see what UKGov does about the World Twenty20 if that happens...

[Train Driver]

Some hope for the future ?

http://uk.cricinfo.com/zimbabwe/content ... 70843.html

[maehara]

Some hope for the future ?
http://uk.cricinfo.com/zimbabwe/content ... 70843.html

An article that bears a remarkable similarity to one I posted on zimcricketnews a few hours prior to CricInfo's. Let's hear it for attribution.

Arendse was the one who was pushing for Zim's isolation, and was pretty much alone amongst SA administrators in that - but since he was the CSA President, his views won the day. I think it's a safe bet that the bilaterals will be reinstated - it's just whether it's done soon enough for the Zim sides to play any part in this season's tournaments, or if we'll be sidelined until next year.