The fact that Australia are even considering sending their cricketers to Zimbabwe is inconceivable, according to Peter Roebuck, writing in The Age.
A hundred statistics could be produced to confirm the horrors Mugabe has unleashed upon his people. One suffices. Life expectancy among males has fallen to 36. AIDS and starvation by Government decree have taken a terrible toll, and hospitals lacking bandages and medicines are powerless to help.
Sporting boycotts have but a small part to play in the face of knavery on this scale. Mugabe and his thugs don't care whether Australia plays cricket in their country in September. Mugabe is an adroit politician capable of turning anything to advantage, including hunger, bankruptcy, mass murder and assassination. Nor must sport allow itself to be used as a substitute for substantive action.
In The Courier-Mail, John Coomber examines the four possible outcomes of the current debate: the tour goes ahead; the Australian government bans the team from going; Cricket Australia gives in and cancels the trip; or the series is called off because the safety of the players cannot be guaranteed.
