London: England hoped be told on Thursday whether its plea to move its World Cup match in Zimbabwe to South Africa has been accepted. Nasser Hussain and his teammates could discover as early as Thursday if they have been successful in their plea to move the controversy-hit World Cup clash with Zimbabwe to South Africa. England believe it has made a strong case for switching the February 13 fixture from Harare, citing the "moral, political and safety" issues surrounding a fixture played in a country ruled by President Robert Mugabe. The International Cricket Council (ICC) bosses, whose deadline to move the game is February 9, hold a teleconference on Thursday to review the situation. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tim Lamb, who is furious with what he called the British government's "misleading" tactics during the crisis, vowed to pull the England team out if the Foreign Office advised it would be at risk. "There is a further independent review of security going on ... but, regardless of the ICC security report, if the ECB gets advice from the Foreign Office saying players will be at risk, we'll say we don't expect our players to go against Foreign Office advice," he said. "We will not send any player into an arena where they could be at risk. We will take the players' concerns on board, listening carefully to what the players have to say."
 Copyright AFP 2001
Extras:
Aussies to play in Zimbabwe despite England's fears
ECB mulls opting out of Zimbabwe World Cup game
Tags: cricket, world cup 2003, zimbabwe, nasser hussain, moral, political, safety, president robert mugabe, international cricket council (icc), england and wales cricket board (ecb), tim lamb, british government, foreign office.
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