Zimbabwe should be stripped off its international status: MCC

LONDON, May 16: The Marylebone Cricket Club has supported Australia's decision of not touring Zimbabwe and demanded the African country should be permanently suspended from international cricket.
The 15-member MCC's Word Cricket Committee, headed by former England captain Tony Lewis, which also includes Indian skipper Rahul Dravid and former Zimbabwe international Andy Flower, said Zimbabwe's playing standards had continuously declined during the President Robert Mugabe's regime and was unlikely to improve in his tenure.
"The MCC World Cricket Committee, which met for the third time on Monday, believes the standard of cricket played by Zimbabwe, a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), has deteriorated to such an extent that its Test and one-day international playing status should be permanently suspended until such time as the cricket infrastructure is rebuilt," the MCC said in a statement here.
"While it is not for the MCC World Cricket committee to make judgments on the politics of any particular country, the committee believes the decline in the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe is directly related to the political situation there, and that an improvement is unlikely while the current regime is in place.
"The committee, therefore, welcomes the decision of the Australian government in preventing its cricket team from touring Zimbabwe later this year. Once the social unrest has been addressed, ICC should, by means of regular review and guidance, assist the Zimbabwe Cricket Union in rebuilding as a serious cricketing nation," the statement said.
The Australia government has banned the country's cricket team from travelling to Zimbabwe in protest at the policies of Mugabe.