Crisis over Streak deepens

The agonising by England over their tour to Zimbabwe comes, with cruel timing, at a moment when the game itself in the African country is in genuine crisis.

Reports yesterday indicated that up to 10 white players had been sacked by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union board member responsible for racial quotas in the continuing furore following the removal of Heath Streak as captain. The move could eliminate any white presence from the national team. Streak has called for the International Cricket Council to "come here and investigate the grave situation at all levels of the game".

According to the ZCU, Streak gave them an ultimatum last week to restructure the national selection panel or he would quit. The board rejected his demands and said Streak had resigned from playing at all levels in the country. Streak wanted all selectors to have had personal experience of first-class cricket and said that none should hold conflicting interests, such as being commentators or ZCU directors. That would have meant the removal of a black selector with no first-class experience and an Asian TV commentator.

The state-run Herald newspaper responded by labelling Streak a racist. Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu was appointed to replace him, and at 20 is due to become the youngest captain in Test history against Sri Lanka next week. A number of Streak's team-mates gave the board an ultimatum after a marathon meeting last week to reinstate Streak by Wednesday or they would resign en masse.

The ICC had no official comment to make yesterday, apart from emphasising that it was an internal issue. However, they may be disconcerted by the turn of events in Harare.