Nations divided over Zimbabwe issue

The International Cricket Council's fragile unity looks set to crack if the four-nation Asian bloc, as expected, comes out in support of Zimbabwe retaining full member status at an executive board meeting this week.

Outgoing ICC president Ray Mali placed the issue on the agenda of the two-day ICC meeting scheduled for today and tomorrow as his native South Africa and England severed all cricketing ties with Zimbabwe in protest at what many Western states say was the lack of free and fair elections that allowed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to win a sixth term last week.

Niranjan Shah, the secretary for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has said that his organization "would like to fully support Zimbabwe Cricket" in its retention of full member status within the ICC.

"We are aware that some member boards want Zimbabwe's membership taken away, but we are with Zimbabwe on this," Shah told the Cricinfo website. "However, we also understand the positions taken by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) as they were prompted by the advice of the governments in those countries. We do not blame them as they are bound by what their governments decide.

"But our position is very clear on the issue of full membership, and we would like to totally support Zimbabwe on that."

Pakistan, which is sending its second-string team to tour Zimbabwe in August, has indicated it will support the African country, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh usually vote the same way as the other two Asian nations.

With a two-thirds majority - or seven votes out of the 10 on the ICC board - required for any resolution to be passed, Zimbabwe is expected to retain its lucrative funding and voting rights.

Zimbabwe was the only non-Asian country to vote for BCCI chairman Sharad Pawar over his ECB counterpart David Morgan to replace Mali at last year's elections. The elections were tied at five votes apiece, and each candidate will serve a two-year term as ICC president instead of the usual four after a negotiated compromise.

Last week, British sports secretary Andy Burnham instructed the ECB to withdraw Zimbabwe's invitation for a one-day tour in May 2009, but failed to extend the ban to the Twenty20 World Cup next June for fear of compromising England's eligibility to host other events, such as the 2012 Olympics and the 2018 World Cup.

Zimbabwe has reportedly been urged to suspend itself from the ICC and save England from having to choose between losing the hosting rights for the Twenty20 World Cup or allowing the team into the country only a month after its ban comes into effect. Conceivably, Zimbabwe would then retain its ICC funding, despite the findings in March from an independent audit into Zimbabwe Cricket's accounts that large amounts of money cannot be accounted for.