Exceptional situations call for exceptional measures
Andy Burnham, Britain's secretary of state for culture, media and sport, in the Telegraph , explains the government's instruction to ask the England board to sever ties with Zimbabwe Cricket.
This direct intervention in the affairs of a sporting body was not one I took lightly. I firmly believe that sport should operate autonomously from government, and intervention is a last resort. The government had previously called on the International Cricket Council to reconsider their rules to allow teams to forfeit tours to countries, such as Zimbabwe, where serious human rights abuses are occurring. Unfortunately, the ICC have declined to do so
Ashok Ganguly is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo