DUBAI // A specially-formed International Cricket Council delegation will visit Zimbabwe within the next three months as part of their attempts to reach a conclusion on the country's place within the international game. The ICC's annual conference ended on Friday having reached a stop-gap decision on Zimbabwe. Following days of intense negotiations, leading to fears of a split within world cricket, Zimbabwe agreed to withdraw from next year's Twenty20 World Cup in England. While the ICC officials maintained that politics and sports shouldn't be mixed, there is pressure from countries who want to sever any ties with Zimbabwe, especially after president Robert Mugabe was re-elected to power last week.
A three-member ICC sub-committee will visit Zimbabwe to examine a number of issues related to cricket while an independent team of auditors will review the finances of Zimbabwe Cricket, the governing body. A full report will then be presented in November. The ICC sub-committee will be made up of Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Arjuna Ranatunga, the president of Sri Lanka's cricket board and another official, who is yet to be confirmed.
Friday's deal, in which Zimbabwe voluntarily withdrew, was brokered by the Indian board. As part of the deal, Zimbabwe will retain its share of revenues as well as its Test status. Peter Chingoka, president of Zimbabwe Cricket said: "We have pulled from the T20 World Cup in the wider interests of the game, but are hoping that our position can be resolved once and for all." Meanwhile, the former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding resigned from the cricket committee, which will now be chaired by Clive Lloyd. Holding revealed yesterday that he was unhappy at the decision to change the result of the Oval Test match in 2006 from a forfeited win for England to a draw with Pakistan.
Holding said: "That game should never, ever be a draw. When you take certain actions you must be happy to suffer the consequences. A lot of things are happening today that I don't want to be involved with, so I've moved on." @Email:vchaudhary@thenational.ae
