Home > World Cup 2003 > England Lose Zimbabwe Points

The ICC's technical committee have ruled England must forfeit four points for pulling out of their opening match against Zimbabwe.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Tuesday that Nasser Hussain's team would not play in Harare because of security fears.

They appealed to have the match replayed at a later date outside Zimbabwe, and the technical committee met on Friday night to consider whether the security concerns presented to them by the ECB were sufficient to merit its re-scheduling.

However, England this morning discovered the verdict of the committee had gone against them and now have three hours to decide whether they will appeal.

It means victory in their first match of the tournament, against Holland in East London on Sunday, is even more important with Zimbabwe having been handed four points from the cancelled match.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "It's a decision which gives the committee no pleasure."

During a seven-hour meeting in Johannesburg on Friday Tim Lamb, the England and Wales Cricket Board's chief executive and Mark Roper-Drimie, head of legal affairs at Lord's, submitted new information to the technical committee.

The committee elected to consider the evidence overnight before delivering their verdict this morning.

The England team claimed the safety of both themselves and their families would have have been compromised by their appearance in Harare following a letter from a group calling themselves the Sons and Daughters of Zimbabwe who claimed the team would return to Britain in "wooden coffins".

England faced serious opposition to their attempts to get the match relocated - with Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of India's board, claiming Hussain's team should be docked points for refusing to play the match.

In a letter to Speed, Dalmiya stated: "The ICC should come to a firm and final decision whether Zimbabwe is a safe country or not for playing World Cup matches - if Zimbabwe is not a safe country, then shift all the matches from there.

"But if it is safe award full points to Zimbabwe for the England match and levy a penalty of four minus points on England."