Cricketers urge Zimbabwe switch

England's cricketers urgently requested yesterday that next month's World Cup match in Harare be switched to neighbouring South Africa because of the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe.

Plans are now afoot to persuade the International Cricket Council, the game's world governing body, to move the fixture against Zimbabwe on 13 February on the ground that it is an exceptional case.

Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said: "It is not beyond the bounds of possibility, given the historical ties between the two countries and in the light of the relationship between the two governments, that we might be able to argue that there is a special case.

"I am not going to say definitely that we will play that card, but I have already dropped a pebble into that pond."

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers failed to reach agreement yesterday on extending sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe after a row over French attempts to weaken them. Several EU nations, led by Britain, attacked French plans to invite Mr Mugabe to Paris to attend a Franco-African summit next month, one day after the sanctions expire.