Zimbabwe race case called off

Steve Harmison: opted out of the Zimbabwe tour
14 April 2012

England's winter tour to Zimbabwe descended into further farce today when a hearing into allegations of racism against the regime's cricket union was scrapped.

An International Cricket Council inquiry into the scandal was called off after one of the members of the panel, South African high court judge Steven Majiedt, said both sides had refused to back down over who could be present at the hearing.

The panel will now rely purely on written evidence before ruling on the claim, from 15 rebel players who were sacked from the international team, that the Zimbabwe cricket authorities are racist.

Chris Venturas, the players' lawyer, called for a postponement yesterday, saying three officials from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union should not be present at the hearing. He argued they would intimidate the players.

The ZCU refused to accept the decision and the hearing was adjourned with the two sides expected to try to find a way to break the deadlock overnight. But they did not meet and the ICC panel called off the hearing today.

Meanwhile, Ian Botham has urged the Government to step in and instruct the England team to stay away from Zimbabwe.

The former England skipper said today: "As long as Zimbabwe is run by a barbaric regime who sponsor genocide and starvation, we shouldn't be going anywhere near the place."

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