The first issue of the ICC 'Cricket Quarterly', the global body's official newsletter, was out last month - and the lead story was the issue of security vis a vis Zimbabwe's ongoing political strife.

 Zimbabwe is due to host six of the 54 World Cup matches of the 2003 World Cup, with Bulawayo and Harare sharing the games and with England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands slated to play at these venues.

Earlier, in March, the Australian Cricket Board had pulled their team out of a tour to Zimbabwe, citing security concerns following an advisory from the Australian government asking its citizens not to travel to the African nation.

Similarly, England has for a while now been critical of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his policies, and has asked for the World Cup matches to be shifted to South African venues.

Interestingly, just last month, Pakistan played two Tests and a five-match one-day series there, without a hitch - but that little item of information failed to make it to the pages of the ICC quarterly.

Maybe Pakistan playing in Zimbabwe does not count. The ICC took its cue from the stance taken by Australia and England, and sent a 10-man delegation that included England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb, and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, to Zimbabwe to inspect the security arrangements and to submit a report to the ICC executive committee.  

The findings of this committee will be made public later this year, and a decision taken on the scheduled World Cup matches to be held in Zimbabwe. If the ICC gives Zimbabwe an approving nod, then Australia and England will be in danger of forfeiting their matches if they refuse to play.

Executive director of Cricket World Cup 2003 (CWC) Ali Bacher is confident the six scheduled games can be played in Zimbabwe. ICC president Malcolm Gray says the body is only concerned with questions of safety and security for teams and officials.

"The ICC and its members are only concerned with cricket-related issues," said Gray in a statement. "The political issues surrounding Zimbabwe are matters for politicians."

He said that while some countries had imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, "no government in any part of the world has identified sporting sanctions as an appropriate tool to achieve a political outcome".

Malcolm Speed meanwhile warned that any country boycotting Zimbabwe would risk legal action, with the threat of financial penalties.

"Refusing to honor fixtures would be in breach of the World Cup agreement and there would be consequences," he warned.

During the 1996 World Cup, Australia and West Indies forfeited their matches against Sri Lanka in Colombo over security concerns. 

Had the people at the helm of the ICC then taken appropriate action against the two teams, it would have set a precedent to discourage other teams from following suit.  

Given the relatively easier format of the '96 WC, both those teams made it to the semi-finals of the tournament. With the Super Six format introduced in the last WC in 1999, however, any forfeit of matches could severely affect the fortunes of the concerned teams.

Babu Memon, manager of the Zimbabwe team, dismissed the entire issue as a molehill that was blown into a mud house.

"There is no problem in Zimbabwe. If some teams reckon that there is trouble, then they can fly down on the morning of the game, play the match and fly back the same evening to South Africa. How difficult can it get?" he inquired.

Zimbabwean skipper Heath Streak was equally vocal about supporting Zimbabwe's world cup plans. Despite the fact that his father, a white farmer, has been kidnapped twice, Heath supports his country's bid to co-host the world cup.

"Taking the games away would be financially devastating for our cricket," he said. "There's certainly no problem in Zimbabwe at the moment -- the security is absolutely fine. All our families are there." 

"The towns are fine, only the farming areas are unsafe," said Grant Flower, brother of ex-skipper Andy Flower.   

The BBC reports that Zimbabwe is facing a severe food crisis, with around half of its population facing critical shortages. This is partly due to the regional drought but also due to the country's land crisis. Zimbabweans now queue for basics like bread, maize, sugar and oil on a daily basis. With inflation now at more than 150% and high unemployment, there is huge discontent in the country.

Can that stand against a nation trying to co-host a tournament of the scale of the World Cup? The Zimbabwe Cricket Association (ZCU) expects to earn $6.35 million from World Cup television rights alone. The funds will be used to develop the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy to unearth young talent.  

Half a world away, two-thirds of Australian broad acre farmers are in drought, the nation's chief commodities forecaster said. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) said 62 per cent of farmers surveyed were in drought – the highest since 1982.

Maybe someone should point this "farming unrest in Australia" out to England - it could be an escape route, for the team to get out of being trashed in the remaining two Ashes Tests.