WELLINGTON, Feb 17 - New Zealand's proposed tour
of Zimbabwe has been condemned by the country's prime minister,
who believes a visit to the African nation would be neither
safe nor healthy for the players.
The Black Caps are due to play three one-day internationals
in July under the International Cricket Council's (ICC)
programme, but Prime Minister John Key said on Tuesday that as
well as moral objections, there were other reasons not to tour.
"There are security risks for our players, there is the
risk of cholera and quite frankly we don't support that regime
and we've made that quite clear," Key said on TV3.
The centre-right National-led government, like the
Labour-led administration it ousted last year, has said it does
not favour the tour and would consider ordering the team not to
go.
Labour opposed a tour in 2005 but did not prevent it going
ahead, but Australia's government did step in and veto a tour
two years later.
New Zealand Cricket could face an ICC-imposed fine if it
opted against touring, unless ordered by the government, but
Key believes the sport's governing body needed to be realistic.
"You have to ask the question, "Why would the ICC be fining
New Zealand for not sending their cricket team to a country
which is so dysfunctional that it is a high risk if our players
go there?'," he said.
New Zealand Cricket has said it wanted to meet the
government on the issue.
Zimbabwe has agreed to skip this year's Twenty20 World Cup
in England to end a deadlock over demands for its suspension
from international cricket because of Robert Mugabe's
government.
Last month, the ICC said Zimbabwe needed more time before
they could hope to return to test cricket.
The troubled African nation has not played tests since Jan.
2006 after the side was left depleted following disputes
between senior players and the administration.
(Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by John O'Brien)