Port Elizabeth on standby to host Zimbabwe encounter

Malcolm Speed, the International Cricket Council's chief executive, arrived in Harare yesterday to begin his security inspection of the facilities in Zimbabwe, where England are scheduled to play a World Cup match next month.

Accompanied by the World Cup director, Ali Bacher, and a team of other officials, Speed will assess the situation in the crisis-torn country and report back to the ICC tomorrow morning. Although none of the 15-man World Cup party indicated that they would pull out of the match for moral or political reasons, concerns over security from the England and Wales Cricket Board remain.

If Speed and his team deem the situation to be unsafe, the ICC has contingency plans to switch the controversial match between England and Zimbabwe – due to take place in Harare on 13 February – to Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

"We are very interested in the safety and security visit that is taking place," said David Morgan, the ECB chairman, who spoke to England's players in their hotel yesterday morning and will be involved in tomorrow's meeting via a telelink from Melbourne.

"We will have a report on safety and security on Zimbabwe then and if that report says that safety and security is OK then it will still have to be kept under review.

"The players are comfortable with the conclusions that were drawn by the first visit which [the ECB chief executive] Tim Lamb was on in November but they want to be assured that the position remains as it was."

The England captain Nasser Hussain declined to speak about Zimbabwe yesterday and directed enquiries to the ECB. Four days ago he admitted that the issue of whether England should play in Harare was causing him to ask questions.

Hussain looked tired and slightly careworn as he tried to galvanise his team for their penultimate effort. The VB Series in Australia will be followed almost immediately by the World Cup and Hussain left no doubts about hard it has been. "I feel a little bit jaded, it's been a long winter," he said.

"But these are big games now. That's one thing that keeps me going, that every game now is a big game. If it's not here it's going to be the World Cup so there's no time to be tired, really. You get your head down and try to win them."