ICC calls Board meeting to discuss Zimbabwe crisis

London:

The International Cricket Council (ICC) peeved after the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) refused to meet its representative has now called for a telephone conference of its board's directors on Friday. The ten members come from each of the test playing countries including Zimbabwe. India will be represented by BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya. On the agenda is a decision on whether test status should be accorded to the series between Zimbabwe and Australia which begins this Saturday, though Australia have made it clear that they will not stick around to play unofficial tests. However, the motion can only be passed if 7 of the 10 members agree. One of those votes can already be counted out since it belongs to Zimbabwe. The ICC President Ehsan Mani and ICC CEO Malcolm Speed do not have a vote. Maintaining integrity The ICC has already said that their main reason for intervening in the crisis is to maintain the integrity of test cricket. 15 of Zimbabwe's players going on strike has reduced the team to a club side which was embarrassingly routed by Sri Lanka in the recent test and one day series, and there are fears that it can only get worse against Australia. After weeks of refusing to get involved with the crisis in Zimbabwean cricket, the ICC finally relented and sent its chief executive Malcolm Speed to Harare for negotiations. However the ZCU refused to meet Speed after they learnt that the ICC wanted to postpone the test series against Australia. So far the ICC has shied away from any talk of suspending the Zimbabwe Cricket Union whose belligerence continues to increase each day. The ZCU has flatly refused to the demands of its rebel players, who all refused to play following the sacking of Heath Streak as captain. The rebel players have been demanding that team selection be based on merit and not colour.