No England match in Harare - Official

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England’s match against Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday is definitely OFF, according to World Cup Executive Director Dr Ali Bacher.

But Bacher did admit that there was a chance that the match could be moved to a new location, if the England and Wales Cricket Board can prove there is a new security risk.

World Cup organisers last week turned down England’s request to move the match to South Africa on security grounds. That decision was supposedly binding but England have continued to argue for a switch, saying the social and political unrest in the country could endanger their players.

Bacher said that the ECB has new information and the ICC will consider that with an open mind.

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who cares :mad:

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Looks like thew ICC are going to cave in.

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I say, fine ... you lose the two precious points! :-p

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ahmadjee: *
I say, fine ... you lose the two precious points! :-p
[/QUOTE]

Ahmad jee it is four not two points. :D

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *

Ahmad jee it is four not two points.
[/QUOTE]

THE IMPLICATIONS :-

If England boycott the match - They forfeit four points, face a big fine and teams retaliating by not touring England.

If the ICC cancels the match - England only lose two points, remain in contention for the Super Sixes and escape a fine.

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On second thought, fine them from hell and they should loose 6 points for being so cocky. :o

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It should be a great deal of concern since Zimbabwe has already have 8 points by just beating Namibia and now England forfits which gives 4 extra points making it 8 points.

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ICC set England deadline over Zimbabwe protest

CAPE TOWN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - England have been given until 1600 GMT on Thursday to hand in an appeal to have their World Cup Group A match against Zimbabwe moved to South Africa.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman Andrew Walpole told reporters: "We have until 6 p.m. tomorrow night to deliver our legal submission to the World Cup technical committee."

The game was scheduled for Thursday but the England board refused to travel to the strife-torn country because of their players' safety concerns.

The ECB continued to argue after losing a supposedly binding appeal over the issue after the International Cricket Council (ICC) ruled Harare was safe.

The matter will now return to the tournament technical committee for a second time. It will decide either to switch the match to South Africa, cancel the game altogether and share out the points or award a win to Zimbabwe by default.

The ICC has yet to set a date for the committee hearing. Sources close to the negotiations said the matter was not likely to be resolved until next week at the earliest.

From cricinfo.

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ICC should make an example of England and impose heavy penalities on top of point deductions for screwing up the world cup and triggering a chain reaction. Bunch of cookie dunking wussies. I cant believe that some if their players were actually crying at the board hearings...lame losers.

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http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/030213/80/dt5cq.html

Call for penalty points against England

CALCUTTA, India (Reuters) - India’s cricket board has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give England minus four penalty points if they maintain their stance over their World Cup match in Zimbabwe.

England’s tournament opener was originally scheduled to be played in Harare on Thursday but the England board refused to travel to strife-torn Zimbabwe because of their players’ safety concerns.

“The ICC should come to a firm and final decision whether Zimbabwe is a safe country or not for playing World Cup matches,” Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Indian board, said in a letter to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.

“If Zimbabwe is not a safe country, then shift all the matches from there. But if it is safe, award full points to Zimbabwe for the England match and levy a penalty of four minus points on England,” he added.

The ICC has set England till 2.00 p.m. British time on Thursday to appeal to have their Group A match in Zimbabwe moved to South Africa. The matter will be considered by the tournament technical committee in Johannesburg on Friday.

The ECB continued to argue after losing a supposedly binding appeal over the issue after the ICC ruled Harare was safe.

Other teams in Group A have agreed to travel to Zimbabwe, with Namibia already having played there on Monday.

Dalmiya argued in the letter: "The ICC management is bending backwards to protect the interest of the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and that too at the cost of the other competitors’ interest.

“We are shocked and rather surprised to go through media reports which suggest that ICC is now planning to grant another opportunity to ECB to present allegedly certain new facts/reports before the event’s technical committee.”

India are scheduled to play in Zimbabwe next Wednesday.

“The intention of the ECB appears to cause intentional delay to pursue a wait-and-watch policy so that it can decide whether to go and play in Harare or skip the match and still qualify for the Super Six,” Dalmiya said.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union warned on Wednesday their team would not play the World Cup match against England if it was switched to South Africa on grounds other than security.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *

"The ICC should come to a firm and final decision whether Zimbabwe is a safe country or not for playing World Cup matches," Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Indian board, said in a letter to ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed.

"If Zimbabwe is not a safe country, then shift all the matches from there. But if it is safe, award full points to Zimbabwe for the England match and levy a penalty of four minus points on England," he added.

[/QUOTE]

Dalmiya is absolutely right. I think Pakistan should come out in support of this stance. England, Australia and NZ are doing playing dangerous games here and it's bad for the future of the game. I never thought I'd say this but I will be supporting India against England when the match comes round. If England lose to us or India they will be out of the tournament and that's what they deserve. same goes for the other two stroppy nations.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Mr Xtreme: *

Dalmiya is absolutely right. I think Pakistan should come out in support of this stance. England, Australia and NZ are doing playing dangerous games here and it's bad for the future of the game. I never thought I'd say this but I will be supporting India against England when the match comes round. If England lose to us or India they will be out of the tournament and that's what they deserve. same goes for the other two stroppy nations.
[/QUOTE]

Yes I agree, I dont know Xtreme if you are watching sky sports but the english are very upset with Dalmiya's statement. I think he has sadi the right thing and why should ICC favour England. Maybe because an Aussie is incharge. Imagine if India/Pakistan had boycotted the match, by now they would have not only awarded teh game to Zimbabwe but also threatened to ban us from taking further part in the WC. Way to go Mr. Dalmiya and hope Pakistan supports you.

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Yes Ehsan, I am watching the coverage and the commentators noses were clearly put out of joint by Dalmiya's letter but they haven't got a leg to stand on. If it's not safe for England, NZ or Australia to play there then it's not safe for us. Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and the rest must make a stand. I am glad to see that SA have already threatened to boycott England in retaliation. Let's hope everyone pitches in against these upstarts.

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BCCI accuses ICC of favouring England

February 13, 2003 19:16 IST

Accusing the International Cricket Council of “bending backwards” to protect the interests of the England and Wales Cricket Board on the issue of the World Cup match in Zimbabwe, the BCCI said on Thursday such a stand by the game’s governing body has put India “to a lot of disadvantage”.

“We find that the ICC management is bending backwards to protect the interest of the ECB and that too at the cost of other competitors’ interest,” Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Kolkata.

He said the BCCI remained silent so far because ** “we wanted an amicable solution and granted sufficient time to the ICC to sort out the problem. Being a competitor placed in the same group as England, we were put to a lot of disadvantage”.** :hehe:

Reacting to reports that the ICC is planning to grant another opportunity to the ECB to present new facts to justify their claims of shifting the match against Zimbabwe from Harare on security grounds, Dalmiya said: “These are intentional delaying tactics.”

England were scheduled to meet Zimbabwe at Harare on Thursday but the match was not played. A final decision on its status is awaited.

“The intention of ECB appears to be intentional delay to pursue a ‘wait and watch’ policy to see the result of other group matches so that it could decide whether to go and play in Harare or skip it and still qualify for the Super Six.”

Dalmiya, who shot off a letter to ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed during the day, demanded stern action like deduction of an additional four points from England’s kitty and withholding its guarantee money if Zimbabwe, which has already hosted a World Cup match – between Zimbabwe and Nambia – is considered safe.

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I am beginning to like Jaggu. He doesn’t let go of any opportunity to get on Speed’s nerves. :hehe:

If ENgland gets to share points with Zim or plays them outside of Zimbabwe, I would be majorly pissed.

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Well Said Jaggu.........
Master strategist..............

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**ICC awards controversial World Cup match to Zimbabwe **

The World Cup’s technical committee has ruled against switching England’s World Cup match against Zimbabwe away from Harare.

The committee has awarded four points to Zimbabwe, meaning that effectively England have forfeited the game.

The England and Wales Cricket board must decide this morning whether to appeal against the decision.

The committee met yesterday afternoon to discuss the controversial fixture, which was originally scheduled to take place on February 13.

The match was called off by the ICC following weeks of wrangling with the ECB, who wanted to move the Group A game to South Africa because of safety concerns about playing in strife-torn Zimbabwe.

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/FEB/140678_WC2003_15FEB2003.html

** Zimbabwe gets 4 points**

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ICC have also allowed England the chance to appeal against the decision. :(

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England have declined to appeal against the decision and Mikey Holding (member of the ICC techical committee) shot down the commentators in an interview when he said that there was no evidence of a threat to safety. When asked about the morality of playing in Zimbabwe he bluntly said it was up to the English Government and cricket board to sort that out between themselves, not the job of the ICC technical committee. Absolutely killed the argument stone dead.

When we play England next week we can virtually knock them and their stupid posturing out of the WC. Thanks to them we are having to contend with Zimbabwe as serious threat to our chances of getting through so it will feel good to dump their asses out of the tournament.