England waver amid Zimbabwe controversy

England’s players have remained united in their support for their employers over the past few weeks – but individual minds have wavered on the morality of playing in Zimbabwe.

Some 12,000 miles away, debate has raged for what seems like months on whether the national side should fulfil their February 13 World Cup fixture against the co-hosts in Harare.

At least it has since the last days of December, when the Government made it clear the England and Wales Cricket Board should refuse to play in a country where seven million people face starvation.

However, it was not until a pile of individually addressed letters - threatening protests and demonstrations should they turn up – arrived in their Sydney Cricket Ground dressing room that their stance hardened.

Previously, England’s players were berated for what had been regarded as a lack of political nous.

Immersed in a hectic three-month tour Down Under, however, and beset by injury problems, they have had their minds on on-field preparations for the World Cup.

Whatever the nation might think, in its feverish debate about whether England should play in Zimbabwe, the players had other pressing commitments on their minds.

In Australia, where the political discussion about Zimbabwe has been virtually non-existent, they have been offered little sustenance.

But the aggressive address by a Zimbabwe freedom movement has altered their perception of what is right and what is safe.

Previously, the sole reason that some anodyne comments upon Zimbabwe by England players filtered their way back home is because they were pressed on the issue.

Andrew Caddick branded himself a sheep with Lord’s as his shepherd when quizzed.

All of them said pretty much the same thing: tragic situation, no reason why cricket should be used as a scapegoat when British companies still trade in Zimbabwe, a determination not to allow Robert Mugabe to pull off a PR coup, get in, win the game, get out. Nothing we can do, that’s what we’re paid for.

England cricketers do not equate Zimbabwe’s cricket team with the appalling, repressive political rule of Mugabe.

But they began to display public compassion for the plight of the Zimbabwean people gripped by famine last week and fears for their own security are now at the forefront of their thoughts.