Zimbabwe tour googly for England cricketers

Zimbabwe tour googly for England cricketers

• Defiant Zimbabwe rebels plan England tour

• Hogg savaged by Streak

• Streak shines on debut

• Zimbabwe suspend test matches

• Streak calls for complete Zimbabwe ban

• Zim, Aussies scrap Test series

• Zimbabwe dissidents withdraw

• 13 players quit

• Streak is right

• Player revolt looms

• Streak axed as Zim skipper

By Myles Hodgson

THE ZIMBABWE trip is a googly for England Andrew Strauss claims all the players set to be selected for England's forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe still have serious moral qualms about visiting the country.

Middlesex batsman Strauss has yet to make up his mind, even though England set a deadline of last night for players to inform their employers if they were unwilling to travel to a country beset by Robert Mugabe's disgraced regime.

The touring party for five one-day internationals in Zimbabwe is scheduled to be announced tomorrow and it is already known it will not feature Durham fast bowler Stephen Harmison who last week made himself unavailable.

With Andrew Flintoff - recently nominated as the world's top one-day cricketer - thought likely to follow his friend Harmison's lead, Strauss' remarks betray more widespread uncertainty.

"All the players have deep-rooted moral problems with going on the tour. It's not an easy situation for us to be in," he said.

"I can only speak for myself and I haven't made up my mind yet."

Meanwhile, Marcus Trescothick begins six well-earned weeks of rest today, insisting England can bounce back strongly from their latest one-day final disappointment in the ICC Champions Trophy against West Indies.
EC
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