Zimbabwe tour 'still not certain'

Helen Clark has not conceded the Black Caps tour to Zimbabwe will go ahead next month, and insists it remains an "open question".

The Prime Minister's remark comes as pressure mounts on the Government to do more than say it opposes the tour and as the financial implications of banning the Zimbabweans from coming here sink in.

Ministers will tomorrow meet NZ Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden for a crucial meeting about the tour, and the impact of the Government's decision to deny visas to the Zimbabwe cricket team.

Helen Clark yesterday sidestepped the question of compensating NZ Cricket for losses it might incur because of such a decision.

NZ Cricket boss Martin Snedden said last week the loss of the December tour here by Zimbabwe would cost $3 million.

It would also cost the cricket body any chance of co-hosting the 2011 World Cup with Australia, worth tens of millions of dollars.

NZ Cricket faces a fine, suspension from international cricket and compensation claims for lost TV deals if it calls off next month's tour for other than security reasons.

Helen Clark said losses to cricket from losing a co-hosting bid were not an issue at the moment.

"Whether or not you are hosting a cup in six years' time is not a matter of immediate pressing financial concern," she said yesterday.

The Government is expected to ban Zimbabwe sports teams in bilateral competitions, but not multi-team tournaments. On the surface, that might allow Zimbabwe entry to cricket and rugby events here.

But it will not stop the ICC taking the World Cup to another host, with Mr Snedden told in London last week a country which had banned another ICC member could not expect to be awarded their biggest event.

Helen Clark said it was hard to say if the Black Caps would tour, but it depended on whether security concerns deepened, and diplomatic pressure - including on the ICC - had any effect. "It's still an open question," she said.

Although she said after yesterday's Cabinet meeting the Government would be very reluctant to legislate, that was less emphatic than her comments earlier in the day in which she described a Green Party draft bill as "Mugabe-style".

The Greens and Jim Anderton's Progressives have raised making it illegal for official New Zealand sports teams to tour Zimbabwe.

However, because Parliament is in recess until late this month, there is virtually no chance of a law change before the cricketers depart.

Mr Snedden cut short a visit to London last week to return home as the row over the tour deepened.

He said New Zealand was contractually bound to tour, and told Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff cricket here could be bankrupted if it broke the ICC rules to quit the tour.

Mr Snedden told the Herald on Sunday he would not be party to anything "shonky or stitched together" to get around contract obligations.

The bills

$3 million: NZ Cricket's estimate of its loss from stopping Zimbabwe touring here in December.

$2.8 million: Fine and compensation claims for lost TV deals if it calls off next month's tour for other than security reasons.