But the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb said he was satisfied with the decisions made.

Lamb told the BBC's Breakfast With Frost: "The ECB management board met earlier in the week and went through the sequence of events and the general consensus was that it was difficult to see how we could have done anything different.

"It was a blow that we didn't get through to the Super Sixes - we should have beaten Australia and clearly losing the points from a match we were expected to win (in Zimbabwe) ruined our chances in the World Cup.

"But at the end of the day our decision not to send the players was borne out of our duty of care - imagine how we would have lived with ourselves if anything had happened in Harare."

Lamb admitted he was expecting to fight a hefty compensation claim from the International Cricket Board's commercial partners, the Global Cricket Corporation.

But he insisted the ECB would mount a strong case in their defence and were confident of winning any ensuing battle.

Lamb added: "We believe we have a strong legal case and we will defend that - but it remains to be seen what sort of damages are claimed."