da bwin： It might have happened virtually at the last minute, but England’s tour toZimbabwe has finally received clearance to go ahead
Ralph Dellor20-Sep-2001It might have happened virtually at the last minute, but England’s tour toZimbabwe has finally received clearance to go ahead.With the team due to fly out next week and the first match, against ZimbabweA, scheduled for October 1st, the two sets of authorities have concludedexhaustive talks with a statement to the effect that obstacles to the tourtaking place have finally been cleared.The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union had toovercome problems caused by the political situation in the country, and thereluctance of the government in Zimbabwe to grant accreditation to theentire English media contingent. A particular doubt had been raised by theintention of the BBC to cover the tour. That organisation’s news reportershave been banned by the president, Robert Mugabe, after what were regardedas unfavourable comments about his government.As keen as they were for the tour to go ahead on cricketing grounds, the ECBofficials were reluctant to continue unless access was granted to all theBritish media organisations that wanted to cover a tour that includes fiveone-day internationals. Now, however, it has been agreed that work permitswill be issued to all those who have applied for them.ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said, “This has been a long process, but we’redelighted the Zimbabwe Cricket Union have now agreed to allow all the mediato enter the country to cover the tour.”It was thought that a replacement for James Ormond, the injuredLeicestershire pace bowler, would be announced earlier this week but, asyet, his place in the party remains to be filled.