Should we ban Zimbabwe?

[King Tendulkar]

With the ICC meeting to decide if to ban zimbabwe with all the Mugabe happenings! What should the BCCI do? As it seems crucial to wether they are banned on or not is what the BCCI does? Any thoughts? Should the BCCI support banning zimbs from international cricket?

[Cricketics]

It will be a shame if we drop and Ban ZImbabwe. Whatever crap Mugabe has done for Zimbabwe, his country folkz, the Zimbaweans don't deserve the harsh treatment for that. i mean what has the public of Zimbabwe done? don't those players deserve something. they don't deserve banishment from cricket. this is total crap from ECB for supporting this

[THX_1138]

i am a bit ambivalent about this... these sportspersonell would be left with no employment if such a measure to ostracize zimbabwe is indeed adopted, but then again at the same time, refusal to do so would in some parts be a vindication for a corrupt government.

[Ram]

As much as sports and politics shouldnt mix, what is happening in Zimbabew has gone beyond ridiculous proportions. Its high time the international community started sending strong signals to the Zim govt that it will not approve of whats happening there. Besides, for country that suffers from mass famine, 1000% inflation, sky-high fuel prices and wide-spread corruption and mal-nutrition, setting up an international cricket team shouldnt be priority. While their players are paid pittance, Zim cricket officials fly business class and enjoy fat allowances, for all their 'official engagements'. This whole sham must stop now.

[King Tendulkar]

Plus the team is cr#p and does not deserve test status based on its cricketing abilities anyway

[The Outsider]

Zimbabwe should be relegated to Associate status purely on cricketing merit. They have not played a test for years and have been whitewashed in all ODI series and the likelihood of either changing is non existent. Their administration is siphoning off large amounts of money which they get as full members of ICC, so it's not that their cricket or cricketers is benefiting from a full status anyway. Even if we don't bring politics into the whole episode, Zimbabwe don't deserve to be a full member just on cricketing arguments. How likely is it to happen? Close to impossible. The BCCI will show it's clout and will not lose a vote in the ICC at any cost. Such is politics and power play. The only thing which can remotely challenge BCCI's monopoly in world cricket is being in the minority in the ICC and they will not allow it to happen. Is it right? Of course it's not on a purely moral ground but then was the continued support of South Africa's apartheid regime by England and Australia for decades right? It will be hypocritical if England and Australia decide to take the moral high ground here.

[Guest dada_rocks]

For cricketing reasons they have been rightly demoted but this politics reason doesn't cut ice for me.... Should we disqualify britain for waging unilateral war against other sovereign nation

[Dravid]

should we ban.... ahh... our power is great to have :D

[Desi Cartman]

Pak didnt have democratically elected govt for years but they still played cricket, didnt they ? Of course Mugabe is a pathetic , racist pig but how is not playing cricket with Zim going to make him quit .. its not going to work.

[amits]

no need to ban zimbabwe. just demote them to associate status & have them play in world cup qualifiers & intercontinental cups

[theguyinallblue]

Zimbabwe play down global concerns Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute said he could not understand why the likes of South Africa and England had frozen ties with his organisation while Zimbabweans continued to compete at international level in other leading sports. Cricket South Africa's action last week in cutting bilateral links with its neighbour, after Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential election in order to prevent his supporters being subject to fresh attacks by Robert Mugabe's regime, set off a chain of cricket events. Ray Mali, the South African president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), moved to have the whole issue of Zimbabwe's status added to the agenda of next week's meeting of the global governing body in Dubai. Meanwhile English officials, with the backing of the British Government, called off Zimbabwe's planned tour of England next year. Government ministers also called for Zimbabwe to be excluded from the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England. But Bvute, writing in a letter sent to all members of the ICC executive, said it was wrong to impose sporting sanctions for political reasons. However critics, including former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, have repeatedly argued that ZC's close ties with the ruling Zanu-PF party mean it is not an independent sporting body. "We (Zimbabwe) are a full member of Fifa and are currently participating in a World Cup qualifying campaign," Bvute told BBC Radio on Saturday. "We have a swimming programme which has produced Kirsty Coventry, a recent winner in the world championships, so it would be strange that the only sport to take action on so-called current worries is cricket when all the other world sporting bodies have not taken that stance." Looking ahead to Wednesday's meeting, Bvute said: "I cannot speculate on the outcome but we have obviously noted the actions of others. "Over the last few years there have been problems between England and Zimbabwe. This is not a new phenomena." And as for the social turmoil within Zimbabwe, Bvute said: "I think at the end of the day that's a matter for the politicians to speak and decide on. We are not politicians and we are not qualified to speak on these issues." Zimbabwe, which effectively suspended itself from test cricket because of a collapse in playing standards brought about by a race row over selection remains an active one-day international side. They have long enjoyed the support of India, cricket's financial powerhouse, and the Asian giant's stance in Dubai is likely to be critical in shaping Zimbabwe's immediate cricket future on the world stage. ************************** so even FIFA is not contemplating any action against zimbabwe..

[DomainK]

Pak didnt have democratically elected govt for years but they still played cricket, didnt they ? Of course Mugabe is a pathetic , racist pig but how is not playing cricket with Zim going to make him quit .. its not going to work.

Good point. However SA was banned by ICC partly due to political reasons. A government's negative practices is no scale to measure a team's status in ICC. I dont think the proceeds of the games are contributing to the evil causes. So whats purely on cricketing merits? If the fact that Zimbabwe havent won a single match in more than a year is enough to ban them, why not ban BD as well? So whats a good reason to ban them?

[Feed]

Zimbabwe pull out of World Twenty20 Zimbabwe have agreed to pull out of the World Twenty20 next year in England after discussions on the third day of the ICC board meet in Dubai. More... Future of Zimbabwe cricket Zimbabwe pull out of World Twenty20 Ajay S Shankar in Dubai July 4, 2008 Zimbabwe have agreed to pull out of next year's Twenty20 World Cup in England, clearing the roadblocks for the tournament to be staged there, but will retain their status as Full Member of the ICC and receive funding as usual. "We have decided to pull out in the larger interests of the game," Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, told Cricinfo. "We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers." The decision, Chingoka said, pertained only to the tournament in England. "We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India." The Zimbabwe issue had occupied a large part of the discussions during the ICC executive board meeting, which carried over to an uncheduled third day on Friday after a failure to reach a consensus. Some countries, led by England and South Africa, had been pushing for Zimbabwe to be stripped of Full Member status but that move had been opposed by India. More to follow..

[theguyinallblue]

so finally an amicable solution to the Mess.. Trust the deal broker Pawar Saheb to create paths in water... what a bloody good idea this is..all parties are should be happy now... No bilateral matches between ZIM and Eng, SA and AUS..because of Govt policies ..and ICC can not over rule that. T20 world cup stays in Eng..Eng is Happy..and so is White Block. ZIM retains the Full Member voting right..BCCI is happy.. All is well that ends well..