Cricket: Government pays $406,000 in compo

The Government has agreed an unusual compensation deal with New Zealand Cricket to cover losses stemming from the ban of the Zimbabwe cricket team's tour here last summer.

The Government yesterday said it will pay $406,000 to New Zealand Cricket to cover the losses, which followed the political decision to decline visas to Zimbabwe's players last year.

At the time Zimbabwe was in the world spotlight for human rights abuses and the New Zealand Government was keen to make a political statement against the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said yesterday that he was pleased that the Government has agreed to make the payment.

"I have to say I think the Government has been very fair in this situation," Snedden said.

"They had no legal obligation to compensate us, no contractual obligation."

New Zealand's involvement with Zimbabwe on the cricket pitch was the subject of intense public and political scrutiny last year, in an often heated debate.

The Government first unsuccessfully pressured New Zealand to pull the plug on its tour of Zimbabwe in July last year, then followed that up by forcing the cancellation of Zimbabwe's tour here.

New Zealand Cricket's losses from the tour cancellation were originally expected to be $2 million.

But they were reduced to just over $400,000 when the West Indies agreed to play an extra test here, adding five days to the number of days of international cricket on offer to broadcasters and sponsors.

Snedden said that at the height of the furore the Government indicated it would be "reasonably sympathetic" to compensating New Zealand Cricket for the ban on Zimbabwe's players.

New Zealand Cricket agreed to do everything it could to reduce the losses and organised the extra West Indies match.

At the end of the season New Zealand Cricket calculated the final loss and made a claim, working with the Treasury to verify the exact amount.

Snedden said that despite the Zimbabwe tour being a heated issue, "a pretty strong" relationship with the Government was maintained and "that's probably helped in the long run".

Finance Minister Michael Cullen yesterday said it was "only fair" that the Government pay up. Asked if the payment set a precedent for future compensation, Dr Cullen's office emphasised that the Zimbabwe situation posed a rare set of circumstances.