Changing the game

John Howard: his offer has changed the whole game © Getty Images

The news that John Howard, Australia's prime minister, has offered to pay any fine levied on Cricket Australia should it refuse to send a side to Zimbabwe later this year would have made Peter Chingoka, back here in Harare after being lavishly entertained at the World Cup, splutter into his morning coffee ... and it wouldn't have done anything for Malcolm Speed's digestion either.

Howard's unexpected move means that Zimbabwe's place in world cricket is not only again under the spotlight, but is also far less secure that it was 24 hours ago.

Until now, although the boards in Australia, England and New Zealand have all come under pressure from their respective governments, they have all gone through with the commitments rather than face a swingeing fine from the ICC. Zimbabwe Cricket has carried on, bolstered by the knowledge that the financial penalties for shunning it would almost guarantee it from anything more than rhetoric.

But all that has changed. With Howard commendably backing his government's stance with money, Cricket Australia no longer has to worry about the balance sheet. It may well decide to spare its players a moral dilemma and opt to stay at home. If it doesn't, then the sympathy for it being caught between a rock and a hard place might turn to open hostility.

Speed also faces a conundrum. If Australia back out then do the ICC fine them, and face a public backlash, or not fine them and open the floodgates for any country to opt out of tours? Almost certainly, it will make Howard pay up. After all, its publicity rating can hardly get any lower after the shambles in the Caribbean, but the hatches will need to be battened down in Dubai.

As attendances at recent ODIs here have shown, so dire have things become that few would bother to watch anyway

Zimbabwe Cricket, and no doubt some elsewhere in the cricketing fraternity, will offer tired arguments about Australia's visit not being political and boosting the profile of the game here. That's simply rubbish.

Since Chingoka was reappointed by the government in 2006 the board has undertaken a purge of all opponents, and any shred of hope it was remotely apolitical disappeared. It operates using intimidation - of players, administrators, and reporters - and benefits a chosen few, just as the government itself does.

The substantial funds that the ICC pours into Zimbabwe disappear into a black hole. The players are blackmailed into signing contracts - and paid little and late - the administration grows increasingly bloated, and on the ground the game continues to decline through neglect and a lack of money. Where the cash goes is anyone's guess, but the board stands accused of serious financial misconduct. The ICC has in its possession a forensic audit of dubious credibility but seems unwilling to share it with anyone.

Australia's visit would be used by the state-run media and ZC as an opportunity to brag to anyone that will listen that the country is operating normally. Furthermore, the TV revenue the three ODIs generated would be unlikely to filter too far down the gravy train. Only a handful would be likely to benefit. And, as attendances at recent ODIs here have shown, so dire have things become that few would bother to watch anyway.

The next few weeks will be interesting. The ball is now in Cricket Australia's court, and the great and the good in Harare and Dubai will be waiting nervously to see what happens.