Zimbabwe face trial by protest

'It is time for a boycott along the lines of that which was instigated against apartheid in South Africa'

Zimbabwe will arrive in England on Thursday for a tour that is certain to be marred by protests and civil unrest. There will be demonstrations outside grounds, and the real prospect exists of the two Test matches being disrupted by campaigners anxious to draw attention to the plight of Zimbabweans.

Any cricket that is played by Heath Streak's team is likely to be utterly overshadowed either by pitch incursions and sit-downs, or by the sort of security presence to prevent them that might outnumber paying spectators.

Peter Tatchell, the head of the Stop The Tour group, declined to reveal detailed plans, but the England and Wales Cricket Board are well aware that he has a history of direct action. Earlier this year he laid siege to Lord's and disrupted a meeting organised to discuss England's contentious World Cup match in Harare.

Tatchell demanded the sacking of the ECB's two leading officials, Tim Lamb and David Morgan, and claimed they have nakedly commercial motives. He also appealed to England players to refuse to play Zimbabwe on moral grounds and called on the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, to grant refuge to any of the Zimbabweans who seek it. The players are unlikely to heed the call. Richard Bevan, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said they had no comment on the moral issue.

The ECB at least may be comforted by the fact that, so far, Tatchell's group is a lone voice. When England were scheduled to play in Harare in February both the Government and Opposition brought pressure to bear to withdraw. England at first resisted that, but then refused to play the game because of safety and security concerns.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, has written to Lamb reassuring him that there is no objection to the tour: "As you know, there are no sporting sanctions against Zimbabwe, nor general sanctions against its citizens." She said the Government objected to the World Cup game because of the propaganda opportunities that it could have afforded the regime of President Robert Mugabe, but did not wish to prevent Zimbabwean teams competing in Britain.

But opposition to the tour could mount as it goes on. First, circumstances in Zimbabwe could become visibly worse. Second, the ECB may have made a tactical error (let alone a moral one) in apparently agreeing to fulfil England's scheduled tour of Zimbabwe in the autumn of 2004 in return for their trip here this summer. Millions of pounds of television money would have to be forfeited if the tour was called off. The ECB already face heavy penalties for England's failure to play the World Cup fixture.

The political position in Zimbabwe is reliably reported to have worsened since February. Millions are starving and thousands have been tortured for opposing the regime. Thousands of workers joined a strike last week objecting to fuel increases of 210 per cent, and a dozen members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change were arrested during a police raid on their offices on Friday.

The Zimbabwean team are aware of what awaits them in England but appear resigned to it. The tour manager, Babu Meman, said: "We have been told about the possibility of protests but have been assured that there will be full security at all grounds. It is unfortunate that cricket has to be played in circumstances like this, but we have no concerns."

Streak, the captain, has regularly played down events in his country, although his father, Dennis, a farmer, was briefly jailed last year. The only two Zimbabwean cricketers to have spoken out publicly, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, have now retired from international cricket and are in England. At the World Cup, they both sported black armbands "mourning the death of democracy" in their country.

Both are now seeking to keep a lower profile as they try to rebuild their lives away from home. Olonga, especially, fears reprisals. Privately, they might back the tour – and, perversely, the demonstrations – because these will keep the deteriorating situation in their country in the public eye and might help provoke change.

Tatchell, who has been campaigning against Zimbabwe since 1997, is an implacable opponent of the regime and the tour. Nobody should underestimate the depth of his feelings or his determination to make his point. "It is time for a boycott along the lines of that which was instigated against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which ultimately helped to bring it down," he said. "That should be commercial, cultural and sporting. It's going to be very difficult to stop this tour but we are determined to make things difficult by protesting."

Tatchell accused the Government of double standards after changing their stance. Opponents of the World Cup have fallen silent over the tour. One of the most vocal, the Overseas Development Minister, Clare Short, refused to make any comment on the tour.

The Conservative MP Michael Ancram, who was also a leading opponent of the World Cup game, said he was not against the tour. But he said: "If the ECB have agreed unconditionally to go to Zimbabwe next year in return for this visit that is a shabby deal. I am totally against that and will continue to say so."

Lamb repeated his winter line that sport in general and cricket in particular should not be used to make political points. "There are no blanket sanctions and companies continue to trade. People have a right to protest, of course, as long as they do so peacefully, but we have plans to deal with them. The cost of this tour not going ahead would have a catastrophic effect on English cricket at all levels." But Tatchell warned that there was no justification for financial gain when people were being tortured. "I would hope that the TV companies would recognise the dire human situation in Zimbabwe and waive their penalty clauses," he said. "It would be unforgivable to allow this tour to pass without protest."

Tatchell will not go away. The first tour of the summer could be memorable.