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Uncertainty over England boycott
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- England has told the International Cricket Council that the team will not play its opening World Cup match in Zimbabwe -- but a questionmark still hangs over the game. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had told them they would pull out of the controversial fixture, which is due to take place on Thursday afternoon in Harare. But despite the move and the ICC giving the ECB a deadline to give them their final decision, which was then lifted, it was still unclear whether the match would go ahead. The confusion began when Malcolm Gray, the ICC president, wrote to ECB Chief Executive Tim Lamb in response to renewed fears over the safety of Nasser Hussain's 15-man squad. He told Lamb: "ICC Development International note that you are giving us formal notice that you are unable to fulfil the scheduled fixture in Harare on Thursday 13th February." In reply, the ECB said in a statement: "We have not said that we are refusing to go to Zimbabwe. "We have asked the ICC to move the match to a safe location outside Zimbabwe on the grounds of safety and security. "We would also like to draw attention to the fact that in the letter the ICC has released to the media this afternoon, the ICC clearly states it is still awaiting a final decision from the ECB on this matter." The fixture has been overshadowed for weeks by wrangling over player safety because of the turbulent political situation in the southern African country. There have also been calls for England to boycott the game, or at least move it from Zimbabwe, in protest at President Robert Mugabe's regime. However, the ECB has expressed fears that boycotting the game could cost English cricket millions of pounds in lost revenue, cancelled advertising and television contracts should Zimbabwe in turn pull out of their planned two-Test tour of England next year. As the tournament got under way in South Africa at the weekend, England expressed renewed concerns about security for the match. Details of threats allegedly made to England players were passed on to the deputy national commissioner of South African Police, Andre Pruis. If it were to be proved that the threats, said to have been issued by an organisation called the Sons and Daughters of Zimbabwe, were genuine, the ECB was said to be hoping that the game would be abandoned and the points shared. But Pruis concluded that the alleged perpetrators of the threats, which were sent to the headquarters of the English game at Lord's on January 20, were not likely to be credible and were most probably the work of an individual. The letter read: "Commissioner Pruis has investigated the original threatening letter and has supplied much more detailed information about the group who sent the letter and in particular has addressed the question of their ability to carry out any threats made by them. "Using the new information presented to us by Commissioner Pruis, IDI and UCBSA (United Cricket Board of South Africa) have taken an informed decision that the match should go ahead as scheduled and hereby direct you accordingly." UCBSA president Percy Sonn, who also signed the letter, said of the saga: "It impacts negatively on the job we have undertaken for South Africa on behalf of the ICC to stage the World Cup." On the cricket field, Zimbabwean stars Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands during their game against Namibia to protest what they called the "death of democracy" in the country. (Full story) "It is impossible to ignore what is happening in Zimbabwe," the two players said in a joint statement. "Although we are just professional cricketers, we do have a conscience and feelings."
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