Saltires out of Zimbabwe tie on Foreign Office advice

Scotland's cricketers will not travel to Zimbabwe in October for a scheduled Intercontinental Cup tie between the countries, Scotland on Sunday has learned.

It is understood that the decision, ratified by Cricket Scotland's board, has been taken primarily on the advice of the Foreign Office, whose policy stance against sporting tours to the country has been backed by the Scottish Government.

The four-day game was originally due to be played on neutral ground in South Africa as a precondition of Zimbabwe joining a competition that previously only involved cricket's second-tier nations. However, that informal agreement was ruptured three months ago when it was announced by Cricket Zimbabwe that the fixture would be moved to Harare, citing improvements in safety and security.

Any move to end a long-standing unofficial British boycott was likely to be controversial while President Robert Mugabe remains in power. One Cricket Scotland official declared they had been placed in "an impossible position". Ultimately, the intervention of the UK Government has forced the governing body's hand. Although Whitehall has not placed an absolute ban on the trip, its position has been made clear.

"The government is firmly of the view that there has not yet been sufficient progress in Zimbabwe on the fundamental issues of political reform and of re-establishing the rule of law to justify sports tours by British teams and the positive signal that would send," a Foreign Office spokesperson said. "We therefore strongly advise against such visits."

The move deals a blow to Zimbabwe's hopes of a seamless re-integration into cricket's mainstream.

In addition to the political fall-out, the Scots have been left in a sporting bind. Should they forfeit the points from the tie, it will cost the Saltires a place in the final of the I-Cup later this year. And they will likely now turn to the International Cricket Council to broker an acceptable resolution. "We are still hopeful the fixture will take place," an ICC representative said. "And we will certainly be doing everything we can to ensure it happens."

No one from Cricket Scotland or Cricket Zimbabwe was available for comment.

Meanwhile, Scotland travel to Durham today for their penultimate game in this season's Clydesdale Bank Pro40 with the chance to avoid the wooden spoon if they win at the Riverside - or at Edgbaston tomorrow against Warwickshire.