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England should not let zimbabwe tour now

brockley

International Captain
After mugabie's exploits in the last 3 weeks i think its time to stop zimbabwe touring england next year and playing in the 20/20 world cup,even if means england losing the 20/20 world cup.
Time for england to make a stand now and stop thinking of its hip pocket.
 

SpaceMonkey

International Debutant
England should have made a stand years ago. We should also tell the ICC where to stick it regarding Zimbabwe.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
The saddest thing is that this thread even exists – the ICC and the game obviously should do all that they can to prevent Zimbabwe playing international cricket but how the UN and wider international community can just sit back and simply make disapproving noises in the light of irrefutable evidence of large scale human rights abuses is totally beyond me.
 

Craig

World Traveller
The saddest thing is that this thread even exists – the ICC and the game obviously should do all that they can to prevent Zimbabwe playing international cricket but how the UN and wider international community can just sit back and simply make disapproving noises in the light of irrefutable evidence of large scale human rights abuses is totally beyond me.
What did you expect? They are all piss weak and Zimbabwe has nothing that the rest of the world wants. And I trust you to know what I mean there.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
England should have made a stand years ago. We should also tell the ICC where to stick it regarding Zimbabwe.
Yeah, and be ostracised from the World game. Great idea.

There's things worth taking a stand on because you have something to gain by doing so, and there's things where shutting-up because you've no power to make any difference and can only make things worse for yourself is the best option. This is the latter. And has been for the last 6 years.

As regards the issue, Mugabe is no more pathetic-excuse-for-human-being-esque now than ever. Nothing has changed about the Zimbabwe situation.
 

Chubb

International Regular
It is just possible that events over the past few days may mean that Britain will be able to ban the tour, which neither the ECB or the government wants to go ahead, without facing ICC sanctions. I have said before and will say again that the British authorities ought to call the ICC's bluff when it comes to a ban- ban the tour and leave the ball in their court. What will they be able to do without facing worldwide condemnation? Remember they did not punish Australia or New Zealand for refusing visas etc. I bet the spineless pack of fatcats would back down.
 

andruid

Cricketer Of The Year
Oh come on. Is it the ECB, or Cricket Australia, or The ICC's job to be the world's conscience on this issue? I mean FIFA do not give a sh*t what the political situation of whatever country is so long as their stooges in the relevant governing body are left out of it. (Kenya played a World cup qualifier in Harare yesterday!! and nobody seemed overly concerened) therefore why are we expecting so much from the ICC who even worse than FIFA, has people high up in its ranks who have directly bnefitted from the junta currently running Zimbabwe into the ground. While it would probably more immoral for he ECB to avoid Zimbabwe for the time being what Zim Cricket needs is the ICC to sort itself out.
 

duffer

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Oh come on. Is it the ECB, or Cricket Australia, or The ICC's job to be the world's conscience on this issue? I mean FIFA do not give a sh*t what the political situation of whatever country is so long as their stooges in the relevant governing body are left out of it. (Kenya played a World cup qualifier in Harare yesterday!! and nobody seemed overly concerened) therefore why are we expecting so much from the ICC who even worse than FIFA, has people high up in its ranks who have directly bnefitted from the junta currently running Zimbabwe into the ground. While it would probably more immoral for he ECB to avoid Zimbabwe for the time being what Zim Cricket needs is the ICC to sort itself out.
Nail on head.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Kenya played a World cup qualifier in Harare yesterday!! and nobody seemed overly concerened

Surely the time has come for all other cricketing nations to cut sporting ties with Zimbabwe. It seems to me that for far too long other African nations have failed to take any proper action against Mugabe.

Sporting isolation is hardly likely to bring down Mugabe by itself but it's a brick in the wall. Whether this is done by the ICC or by individual countries, I couldn't care less. However the ICC would be able to ensure a united front.

Whether or not the ICC would pull its finger out and actually take action, however, I rather doubt.
 

Debris

International 12th Man
It won't help much for England to stop playing Zimbabwe. Probably only SA can really put much pressure on.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Is anyone on here stupid enough to think that sporting isolation will work against Robert Mugabe? Some romantics appear to think it was some moral-high grounding that bought down the entire apartheid regime.. I somehow doubt they were going to give it all up for a few tests in England!
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Is anyone on here stupid enough to think that sporting isolation will work against Robert Mugabe? Some romantics appear to think it was some moral-high grounding that bought down the entire apartheid regime.. I somehow doubt they were going to give it all up for a few tests in England!
AWTA, beat me to it.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Is anyone on here stupid enough to think that sporting isolation will work against Robert Mugabe? Some romantics appear to think it was some moral-high grounding that bought down the entire apartheid regime.. I somehow doubt they were going to give it all up for a few tests in England!

Do we have the spirit of Denis Compton living on?

It all goes back to that almost forgotten mantra of the 70’s and 80’s “No normal sport in an abnormal society” – sending in a few Helicopter Gunships and a crack group of infantry is nothing to do with any sporting body nor, in my view, any political organisation other than the UN but given that politicians seem unwilling to interfere surely sport must at least mark its abhorrence of the regime in the only way it can?

What possible justification is there for maintaining any sporting cultural economic political or other link? The population are suffering I hear some shout - well of course they are and sanctions per se will never cause Mugabe any pain personally - but that's rather off the point .... I am often accused, with justification, of being a bleeding heart liberal who is far too tolerant but Mugabe's behaviour sticks even in my capacious throat

Sorry - wrong forum - i will go and rant elsewhere ..................
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Is anyone on here stupid enough to think that sporting isolation will work against Robert Mugabe?
What a ridiculous thing to say (and what an unnecessarily offensive way of saying it).

No-one here is suggesting that sport is going to bring Mugabe down. However proper worldwide sanctions may help and sport is but one small component in that.

Moreover, and quite apart from that, it is distasteful and inappropriate, to say the least, that anyone is playing sport with Zimbabwe, in the same sort of way that it was distasteful and inappropriate for other nations to participate in Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics.
 

MrHat

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Mugabe is saying he'll only be removed by God, so a sporting boycott won't be giving him nightmares. To send a team there though would be sendng the wrong message to the Zim people plus the world that relations are normal and would set the campaign back.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Mugabe is saying he'll only be removed by God, so a sporting boycott won't be giving him nightmares. To send a team there though would be sendng the wrong message to the Zim people plus the world that relations are normal and would set the campaign back.
I think its painfully obvious in Zim that things are not normal.. Doesn't need a lack of sport to tell them that.. If anything, sport could be a welcome diversion there, if anyone could afford to go and watch it..
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
What a ridiculous thing to say (and what an unnecessarily offensive way of saying it).

No-one here is suggesting that sport is going to bring Mugabe down. However proper worldwide sanctions may help and sport is but one small component in that.

Moreover, and quite apart from that, it is distasteful and inappropriate, to say the least, that anyone is playing sport with Zimbabwe, in the same sort of way that it was distasteful and inappropriate for other nations to participate in Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Over reaction, no? I've heard countless times on here how we should be taking a moral high ground in <insert country> to help bring <insert dictator> down.. Yeah sport and politics might mix, but one is SO much more important in Zimbabwe.. It seems some cricket fans think their sport is more important than it really is, politically, in the here and now, it has very little bearing on anything unless there is huge amounts of money involved..
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
What a ridiculous thing to say (and what an unnecessarily offensive way of saying it).

No-one here is suggesting that sport is going to bring Mugabe down. However proper worldwide sanctions may help and sport is but one small component in that.

Moreover, and quite apart from that, it is distasteful and inappropriate, to say the least, that anyone is playing sport with Zimbabwe, in the same sort of way that it was distasteful and inappropriate for other nations to participate in Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics.
haha, sensitive much?

I thoroughly dislike Mugabe and the current situation of Zim cricket but Id play there in a heartbeat (just as I would in SA in the old days, in Russia in 1980, LA in 1984 and this years China games).

I love how the pious get off on telling athletes what they can and cant do for reasons completely unrelated to their profession.

Maybe if certain people didnt continually fund ****ed up countries and bale them out of their mistakes (eg UK govt gives 150 million pounds ($300 mil US) a year to Zim) then these idiots wouldnt be able to cling onto power.
 
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MrHat

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
I think its painfully obvious in Zim that things are not normal.. Doesn't need a lack of sport to tell them that.. If anything, sport could be a welcome diversion there, if anyone could afford to go and watch it..
I saw that posed to someone representing Zim on Dateline, he said people are starving to death they don't care about watching cricket. Touring or accepting a tour from Zim would however show the Zim people that the int. community IMO are not that serious about dealing with the problems. They'll look at the successful boycott against SAF and wonder why they are not getting the same support.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Such a bunch of romantics in the cricketing media at the moment.. No way would a tour, home or away by Zim, make an iota of difference to anything in the political spectrum. However the consequences of ostracizing Zimbabwe, are too massive for the ECB to contemplate.. Maybe they could get Mr.Stanford to bail them out?
 

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