da aposte e ganhe： Australia’s World Cup cricket squad will arrive in southern Africa stillunsure whether its match in Zimbabwe will go ahead as scheduled.
da bet7： AAP29-Jan-2003Australia’s World Cup cricket squad will arrive in southern Africa stillunsure whether its match in Zimbabwe will go ahead as scheduled.Several players have now admitted to growing concerns about playing onFebruary 24 in the strife-torn nation.But Australian Cricketers Association chief Tim May says there won’t beany rushed decision to call the match off or ask for it to be moved.Security issues are dominating the build-up to the eighth World Cup,with England’s players making an “urgent request” for their match inHarare to be shifted to South Africa.New Zealand is also unwilling to play in Kenya after it learnt of theexistence of an active terrorist cell which allegedly had the means toattack targets in Nairobi.The International Cricket Council has supported matches going ahead asscheduled in Zimbabwe and Kenya, as has the Australian Cricket Board.But ACB chief executive James Sutherland said the board would still beprepared to call off the February 24 match if necessary, as it had donein the past.The ICC will discuss the issue at an executive board meeting later thisweek.The Australian squad flies to South Africa on Thursday, arriving inJohannesburg early on Friday morning (AEDT).”We have growing concerns but I don’t want them to be exaggerated,” saidMay.”The players have agreed to the process that we typically have put inplace for tours like this where there are security concerns.”We have the process of regular contact with the government and the ACB,getting that information and communicating it to the players, nothinghas changed in that regard.”We understand the implications of such a decision are far reaching fornumerous stake-holders here and numerous bodies of people, so we are notgoing to rush into any particular decision.” … The players have some concerns, that doesn’t mean they’re notgoing to go.”Prime Minister John Howard has renewed calls for the ICC to call offmatches in Zimbabwe and said the Australian government was prepared tocontribute to any cost to cricket authorities of a boycott.”My suspicion is that a lot of the players feel that way, but …I don’tput prohibitions on the freedom of movement of Australian citizens,particularly sports men and women who are free to travel wherever theylike,” he told Channel Nine’s A Current Affair.Australia pulled out of last year’s planned tour of Zimbabwe afterreceiving advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and alsoforfeited a 1996 World Cup match in Sri Lanka because of concerns aboutplayer safety.As a result, skipper Ricky Ponting said he had full confidence that theboard would do the right thing by the players.”What they’ve done over the last couple of years has been fantastic asfar as player safety is concerned, so we’ve got no reason to benervous,” said Ponting.
