West Indies could scrap tour by weakened Zimbabwe

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has not ruled out scrapping Zimbabwe's one-day tour in April, nor of seeking compensation from the Zimbabweans after the cancellation of two Tests following Zimbabwe Cricket's decision to suspend itself from Test cricket.

Zimbabwe's board announced that it would only play ODIs three weeks ago after bitter infighting left it struggling to raise a side. A series of humiliating defeats had also raised questions as to the country's international status. The first casualty of the manoeuvre was Zimbabwe's proposed tour of the Caribbean, but ZC did state that it still intended to proceed with the five ODIs against West Indies which were originally scheduled.

Since the announcement, there has been speculation that the WICB would cancel the whole tour, but speaking to Cricinfo, Roger Brathwaite, the WICB chief executive, explained that no decision had yet been made."This is under consideration," he said. "However, we are continuing to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe as to the likely strength of the team they would send."

Brathwaite admitted that alternative opponents had been sought to replace Zimbabwe but none were available at the right time.

Under the terms of the Future Tours Programme, the WICB would be within its rights to seek compensation from Zimbabwe for the cancelled Tests. "The FTP agreement between the member countries makes provision for situations such as this," he said. "However, until we have a bit more clarity on the situation in terms of responses from our sponsors, media partners etc, I am unable to say if we would seek compensation under the agreement."

Zimbabwe Cricket were unavailable for comment.