Government rejects ECB compensation plea

The strained relationship between the English cricket authorities and the Government became a bitter public war of words yesterday as the two sides failed to reach any agreement over England's scheduled World Cup match in Zimbabwe next month.

A meeting in London between England and Wales Cricket Board officials and ministers ended with the Government restating its wish that England should not play in Harare on the grounds that it would hand a propaganda coup to Robert Mugabe's regime. But in a move that puts into jeopardy any agreement being reached, it also made clear its refusal to reimburse the ECB for any financial loss which it might suffer. The indications were that the ECB might be prepared to pull out if the Government paid compensation, which could run into millions of pounds.

The ECB will call an emergency meeting of its 15-man management board, probably next week, after which it is likely to make one final request to the Government for compensation. If this is not forthcoming, it seems likely that England will go ahead with the match.

Yesterday's meeting was attended by Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, John Read, the director of corporate affairs, Mike Soper, the vice-chairman, and Richard Bevan, the managing director of the Professional Cricketers' Association. The Government was represented by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, and Baroness Amos, the Foreign Minister.

England, Australia, India, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Namibia are all scheduled to play in Zimbabwe in the World Cup, with South Africa staging 46 games and Kenya two. An International Cricket Council inspection party visited Zimbabwe last month and concluded that there was no reason why the matches should not go ahead.

Jowell had hoped to persuade the ECB to pull out of Zimbabwe in the light of Mugabe's human rights record. "We have expressed a view on two counts, first of all the deterioration in security and secondly the appalling human rights situation in Zimbabwe," she said.

"We explored very thoroughly the ECB's major concern, which is the cost to them. But because it is a decision for them there can be no question of compensation from the taxpayer. What is important is that a cricket match does not become a festival that Mugabe uses for propaganda advantages."

The ECB is seeking a guarantee of compensation if it pulled out of Zimbabwe and was then sued by the ICC. Lamb said: "We have signed legally binding contracts with the ICC and their commercial partners, GCC, and there is unlimited liability on us if we breach those contracts. The chief executive of ICC, Malcolm Speed, is unable to put a finger on how much exactly we might be sued for by way of damages.

"There is also the point that the Zimbabwe Government might retaliate by instructing the Zimbabwe team not to come to the United Kingdom to play in our npower Test series and in our NatWest triangular tournament in the summer. And bearing in mind that 85 per cent of our annual revenue comes from international cricket that would leave the ECB in a very serious financial position that could have a detrimental effect on English cricket."

Lamb added: "The final decision about whether we play this match does, as the Government maintains, technically rest with the ECB. However, if we sacrifice this match it will, in effect, be at the Government's request – and for the wider national interest. We don't understand therefore the Government's refusal to compensate us out of the national purse for any consequential losses we incur. These losses could damage cricket enormously.

"In these situations, it's often the development side of things, grass-roots cricket, all the money we're putting into women's and girls' cricket, all the development activities that we've been engaged in since the formation of the ECB six years ago – these are the areas that are likely to suffer."

Lamb said the ECB was fully aware of the "immoral and repressive nature of the Mugabe regime". "Should we fulfil this fixture, we have given the Government our assurance that we are determined not to give the Mugabe regime any opportunity to make propaganda out of the England team playing against Zimbabwe. That is the last thing we want to happen."

One chance of an outcome satisfactory to all would be if the ICC decided that the security situation in Zimbabwe had deteriorated to the point where it would have to switch the matches to South Africa.

Lamb said: "Ministers and the Foreign Office have made it clear to us that there is a possibility, with the economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe, that there is a risk of a deteriorating situation. If that happens the International Cricket Council has made it quite clear on the record that it may revisit its decision to play the matches."