Just not cricket in Zimbabwe

England’s players hit out at cricket’s authorities last night and claimed they had been used as “political pawns” after the Zimbabwe government produced a spectacular U-turn to ensure the controversial one-day series will go ahead.

Just 20 months after being promised they would be kept out of any future dispute over tours, having spent days debating whether to play a World Cup match in Harare, England’s players were again at the centre of discussions to decide whether their troubled one-day series should continue in Zimbabwe.

It prompted Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, to criticise senior officials for allowing players to be drawn into the dispute once again after the tour was again put in doubt by the Zimbabwe government banning several members of the British media.

Zimbabwe lifted that ban at lunchtime yesterday and effectively removed any reason for England withdrawing from the tour without facing sanctions from the ICC.