The International Cricket Council will ensure that both the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) are treated fairly and equally as the ECB reviews its commitment to tour Zimbabwe the ICC said today. The ICC was been briefed by the ECB on the review yesterday.

ICC President, Ehsan Mani, and ICC Chief Executive Officer, Malcolm Speed, met with ECB Chairman, David Morgan, and ECB Chief Executive, Tim Lamb, and the ECB outlined the review process it was undertaking.

Mr Mani said that during the discussions the ICC had reconfirmed the unanimous agreement of all ICC members, including the ECB, that political considerations would not be used as a reason for withdrawing from playing obligations.

‘All Test playing countries, including England, have given a binding commitment to each other that political considerations would not be a factor when reviewing playing obligations and this commitment was discussed during the meeting,’ said Mr Mani.

‘In this case, the arrangements for this tour have been made on a bi-lateral basis under the umbrella of the ICC’s future tours program that is agreed by all countries. This program obliges each team to play each other team once at home and once away in a minimum of a two Test match and three One Day International series over a five year period.

‘The ICC’s role is now to ensure that both parties are treated fairly and equally as this process unfolds and to assist both parties in exploring all options that might be available to allow the tour to go ahead.
‘Should the ECB elect to withdraw from this tour for reasons other than safety and security, it would then be open to the ZCU to take the ECB to the ICC’s Disputes Resolution Committee to determine if any compensation is payable or to take any other legal action that might be open to it under the terms of any agreement between the ECB and the ZCU.’

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Brendan McClements
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