Cricket Tour on Again As Mugabe Backs Down

England's cricketers will touch down in Harare this morning after the Zimbabwe government, in a remarkable climbdown, lifted its ban on nine media organisations and effectively removed the last barrier to the tour taking place.

The players have warned, however, that any further attempts by the Harare regime to "politicise" the tour will lead to an immediate withdrawal.

The volte-face came after protracted lobbying by David Morgan, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, the British embassy in the Zimbabwe capital and the Foreign Office in London.

The initial decision to ban media organisations, including the BBC, led the ECB to delay the player's arrival by 24 hours, and seemed certain to lead to the cancellation of the tour.

With the ban removed, however, Morgan felt he had no choice but to proceed with the tour or face potentially ruinous penalties from the International Cricket Council.

The players agreed to go along with Morgan following a 90-minute meeting with their representative, Richard Bevan, and John Carr, the ECB's director of cricket.

Mr Bevan said the players were disappointed at the Zimbabwe government's decision to ban journalists on political grounds. Mr Carr said the players would withdraw if there were further attempts to politicise the matches.

Mr Bevan confirmed that the players had requested the 24-hour delay on Wednesday, and had sought reassurances from the ECB that the safety of the players, officials and media will be assured.

Mr Carr said the initial media ban had come as a "bombshell", and that he had no idea why the ban had been lifted. He confirmed that discussions had taken place between the cricket authorities, and at consular and governmental level.

England had been due to play the first of their five matches today, but the ECB said it had been postponed until Sunday. England would prefer if the tour were now truncated. Zimbabwe, however, were last night pressing for back-to-back matches tomorrow and Sunday.

The 24 hour impasse in Johannesburg is the second time in 21 months that England's cricketers have been asked to choose between personal misgivings and the ECB's wishes.

After the shambles of the World Cup the players were assured they would never again be put in a similar position. Despite this promise they have been placed under huge pressure in the run up to this tour.