Hussain accepts ruling on Zimbabwe

Nasser Hussain said he is happy to accept the International Cricket Council's decision to allow Zimbabwe to remain as co-hosts of next year's cricket World Cup, although the ICC yesterday accused politicians of "passing the buck" in the dispute.

An ICC fact-finding delegation visited the troubled country last month and decided it was safe to stage six group matches there, including England's game against Zimbabwe on 13 February. There had been concerns over security arrangements following international condemnation of president Robert Mugabe's policy of enforced redistribution of land previously owned by white farmers in 2000.

"What do I know about the situation in Zimbabwe?" Hussain said yesterday. "If the ECB and the ICC say it's fine then I've got to go on that. I'm a paid employee of the ECB and I'm the England captain and if they tell me this is where the World Cup is going to be, it's been checked out and it's safe and we think it's morally right to go to this place, then I can only do what my bosses tell me."

Government ministers have urged the ICC to switch the venues of the games away from Zimbabwe, but the ICC's chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "We sense politicians here passing the buck and saying 'we don't want teams to play in Zimbabwe but this is a decision for the ICC'.

"We're not immune to what's been written and what's been said. What we say is that the factors we take into account relate to the safety and security of the players."

Speed stressed that the ICC were sensitive to the problems and he hoped the tournament could bring some hope to the Zimbabwean people. "We cannot solve the problems in Zimbabwe. None of us at the ICC has the power to do that. Hopefully they will be solved and that will fall to other people," he added. "The best we can do is put on our cricket matches to the best of our ability."

The England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb confirmed England will play their tournament opener in Harare. He said: "The recent ICC fact-finding delegation to Zimbabwe was asked to examine whether or not it is safe and secure for our players to play in Zimbabwe.

"That was its only remit – it was not asked to consider political factors. The ECB is not a political organisation and does not take decisions on that basis"