CAPE TOWN - England's hopes of switching their World Cup match away from strife-torn Zimbabwe were hanging by a thread today after tournament organisers rejected their request.
The World Cup technical committee, meeting just two days before the start of the event, refused to move the February 13 game from Harare
despite England's concerns over political and social unrest in the country.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who made a submission to the committee before the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) put the counter argument, immediately lodged a final appeal which is set to go before an ICC-appointed judge tomorrow.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed told a press conference after the five-hour meeting: "It was a unanimous decision.
"The technical committee does not agree with the ECB... We have tried to make the right decision in the circumstances.
"We believe we have done the best we can and made a fair and honest decision."
The controversy-plagued World Cup is due to start with an Olympic-style opening ceremony on Saturday, followed by main hosts South Africa playing West Indies on Sunday.
The 54-match fixture list, however, has been threatened with chaos for weeks.
The long-running row between England and Zimbabwe has been echoed by New Zealand's continuing refusal to play in Nairobi against co-hosts Kenya and Australia's worries over travelling to Bulawayo.
ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said within an hour of the decision: "We are very disappointed. We have lodged our appeal.
"We hope to convince them (the ICC and the judge) of the strength of our argument."
England could end up forfeiting the Harare match -- as well as facing demands for millions of dollars of compensation -- and thus face a huge task in reaching the second round.
