Andy Burnham, Britain's secretary of state for culture, media and sport, in the Telegraph, explains the government's instruction to ask the England board to sever ties with Zimbabwe Cricket.

This direct intervention in the affairs of a sporting body was not one I took lightly. I firmly believe that sport should operate autonomously from government, and intervention is a last resort. The government had previously called on the International Cricket Council to reconsider their rules to allow teams to forfeit tours to countries, such as Zimbabwe, where serious human rights abuses are occurring. Unfortunately, the ICC have declined to do so

But the serious human rights abuses in the recent election, and the close ties of the Zimbabwe cricket team to the Mugabe regime, presented the kind of exceptional circumstances that justified exceptional measures.

As a result, the ECB announced they were to sever relations with Zimbabwe's cricket authority, and the tour was cancelled.

It is, perhaps, indicative of just how far Zimbabwe has descended into despotism that there has been barely a murmur of disagreement since.

The Guardian brings out the opposing views of former Zimbabwe cricketer John Traicos and Goolam Raja, the South African team's general manager, on whether sports-based sanctions have an influence on politics.