Blair says don't tour

[flanflinger]

Well Tony Blair has said that he doesn't think we should tour. But he is apparantly powerless to stop it. So... Here is a poll to see how many others think that the tour should be cancelled.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

There isnt a poll unfortunatly. I think we should do what ever it takes to stop english cricket being fined into oblivion. As our beloved leader has thrown us to the wolves, we should tour. If he cant stop the tour as PM of our country how the hell can anyone else.

[Occasional Fan]

The "anyone else", RBLC, is the cricket authorities themselves. Whatever they decide, and I think my view is different from yours, I am glad that the decision is theirs and not that of the Government of the day. The fact is that, according to UK law, it is not illegal for anyone to play cricket (or conduct many other business activities) in Zimbabwe. Given that, the UK Government should not do any more than state its preference. Now, I would go a bit further: we all know what the Government thinks now, so it would be quite nice if they would now shut up about it. Why Charles Kennedy asked a question about it at Prime Minister's Questions today is unclear to me given that the answer was a foregone conclusion, but that's politics for you.

[Scott-Wozniak]

The situation is far too complex to be able to reduce it down to a simple yes, no, yes with a B team, because it depends on how you want to look at the situation, and that will determine what answer you give.

On a morality basis of course they should not tour, this is like saying, well we know what you're doing to your people Mr Mugabe, but we don't really mind too much, so we're going to come to your country, play your cricket team and generate some revenue for you. Have a nice day!

On a financial and English Cricket basis - of course they must tour. English Cricket cannot sustain the kind of penalties the ICC would impose on the ECB, it would bankrupt English Cricket, and I'm sure a lot of the fine money would actually find its way through to Mugabe's regime

Bit of a classic dilemna right?

Tony Blair's the one at fault. He has the power to resolve this issue himself, by instructing the ECB not to tour on morality and political grounds - ie he does not want to be seen to be supporting a regime that suppresses it's people in the way Mugabe does. He won't though, because he's weak willed and spineless. He's happy to join forces with America and invade a foreign country with force to sort out their situation, but refuses to do anything about Mugabe's regime - I really don't see the difference to be honest.

If you want my personal opinon on this I'm happy to give it to you, even though it's never going to happen nor the likely outcome, but it's pretty much how I feel about it all.

If I was in charge of the ECB I'd basically tell the ICC and Mugabe's Zimbabwe to get lost, and you can try imposing financial penalties on us if you like, but you can 'spin' if you think you're getting a penny out of this country or English Cricket - they shouldn't pay them one single penny. England should resign from the ICC and refuse to rejoin until there are significant changes in ICC policy. England should invite other Test Playing Countries tour here and for reciprocal tours to take place but not under the guidance of the ICC. It's basically calling the ICC's bluff, they can ill afford to have a powerful country like England resign from the ICC, and its highly possible that other countries may follow suit - creating a split in the ICC's membership. Thats what I think the ECB should threaten to do - call their bluff - see if they have the balls to allow England to resign from the ICC. The ICC's just made up with Blair-like spineless bureaucrats.

Pretty radical, but it's just my opinion.

Scott

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

The iCC, is bigger than the ecb, and alot of our ex-colonial comrades will happily wave us off. You might get the odd rebel tour, but that would be it.

[Scott-Wozniak]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

The iCC, is bigger than the ecb, and alot of our ex-colonial comrades will happily wave us off. You might get the odd rebel tour, but that would be it.

Shrug, so it happens. English Cricket is bigger than the ICC - they can all go and play without us!

Scott

[Kezza]

Ello Scott,

Yeh I agree in principal with what you're saying - apart from this:

The fine imposed by the ICC is what we could call 'minimal', compared with the potential revenue that the ECB might expect to lose if it received a year-long ban from the international arena. Well, this is as far as I know (it's something like £1m and £50m respectively).

If the ECB is going to lose £1m by not touring Zimbabwe, I would expect most of us agree it's worth not going - the ECB, although clearly not rolling in it, could afford a loss of that size.

So then, the potential £50m losses - surely this could be avoided? Could not the ICC be convinced that a year long ban for England's international side is a ridiculous penalty to impose? How likely is it that England will be penalised thus?

[Occasional Fan]

I wonder about that, RBLC. Much as I would hate to see the international game split down the middle - and see my post in another thread on that - desperate times call for desperate measures. Scott's proposal would certainly cause a split, and some of our fellow Commonwealth members, and one notable non-member, would wave us away. I can't see the Aussies or Kiwis staying away for long though, nor perhaps the South Africans, Indians or West Indians once they see the economic cost of boycotting England. Would rather see some sensible discussion at ICC level, however, aimed at unity or, less desirable, isolation of Zimbabwe.

[Rich Greenfield]

Originally Posted by Scott-Wozniak

Shrug, so it happens. English Cricket is bigger than the ICC - they can all go and play without us!

Scott

Wish that was true but unforunatly no international cricket would destroy english cricket through the lose of revenue.

[Whips_off_the_bails]

Some lawyers apparently think that the ICC's actions are illegal. Did the ECB look into this before caving in to the ICC's intolerable pressure? It seems not - that seems to me to be basic incompetence.