The road to Harare

England skipper Nasser Hussain’s somersault on playing in Harare has inspired his predecessor Michael Atherton to quote George Bernard Shaw: “An Englishman thinks he is moral only when he is uncomfortable.” And Hussain’s discomfort is more than visible. There he was, just last month, suffering as the Aussies pummelled and pounded his squad into disconnecting with the world around them. So, when first rumblings began from Whitehall that perhaps England should boycott its World Cup fixture in Zimbabwe, Hussain shirked off any such suggestion. Players cannot be expected to dwell on things political, he sniffed, no doubt eagerly awaiting one of the few first-round matches his team could at least hope to contest on even footing in the Group of Death. The England Cricket Board, too, took a similar apolitical line, pointing — with persuasive clarity — to this absurd hullabaloo over a single game of cricket while the Labour government maintained silence as hundreds of British firms did business in Zimbabwe.

So, what’s changed now? Suddenly, it’s not about Robert Mugabe’s reign of terror — it can’t be, they have trotted out and demolished that excuse before. Instead, security concerns are being cited, as English cricketers demand that their February 13 Harare match be moved to South Africa. This new tack is as wily as it is hypocritical. Wily because it is only on security considerations that the ICC can change the venue for a match — thereby preventing automatic forfeiture of precious points and threats of monetary compensation. Equally hypocritical because this attempt at exceptionalism is a poor fig leaf for pandering to popular sentiment. “This has become more than a game of cricket in Zimbabwe,” says Hussain, in response to questions why England did not ask for a change of venue earlier. “It’s become a huge topic, and the situation for England and England cricketers is different to any other part of the world. Hence it should be reviewed in a different way from everyone else.”

Here, then, are a few words of thanks to Hussain. Cricket-watchers have benefitted from a crash course in international affairs, as, along with him, they have emerged from absolute ignorance about present-day Zimbabwe. But these latest somersaults leave no one any the wiser. Now, Hussain and his squad must be told firmly: play the game, or just drop the points.