ICC summit with England on Zimbabwe

Celebration: Alex Wharf took four wickets in the second one-dayer

14 April 2012

World cricket boss Ehsan Mani wants to meet the England players to canvass their views on the controversial Zimbabwe tour, it emerged today.

He watched Michael Vaughan's team win the second one-day international in Harare by 161 runs yesterday and hopes to speak to the players about all aspects of the trip.

"I want to see them over the next two days because it is very important to hear their views," said International Cricket Council president Mani. "I want to know what they think about the level of cricket in Zimbabwe and their experiences in the country so far."

The squad flies to Bulawayo this evening for the back-to-back internationals at the weekend.

It is highly irregular for players to receive a request from such a senior official in world cricket, but Mani's presence on this tour confirms that this is not a normal trip.

"I felt it was important for me to be here because there have been concerns about this tour and I wanted to see it for myself," he said.

Mani also said that England's standing among the ICC had increased because they had proceeded with the tour. He said: "David Morgan [the ECB chairman] has gained a lot of respect within the ICC for his handling of this issue.

"I could see that England were caught between a rock and a hard place, but he has been absolutely superb, honest and totally up front with people.

"He has had to deal with a lot of domestic pressures, which is understandable because of the unique situation between England and Zimbabwe. The issue was not going to die down."

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen wants to develop his off-spin and become established as an international-class allrounder.

The Hampshire batsman, who scored 77 off 76 balls to set up yesterday's comprehensive win, believes there are more strings to his bow and he is keen to work on the off-spin which first got him noticed in South African domestic cricket.

He once bowled 55 overs against England for Kwazulu-Natal on the 1999-2000 tour. "I bowl in the nets every day for 40 minutes and I bowled before play yesterday so at least I know that if a chance comes my way I won't make a fool of myself," he said. "I am going to keep it going, keep it in the locker but so far they have not needed me.

"I would like to be an international all-rounder but I am not an idiot and I know I am not going to go and bowl Australia out with my off-spin. It is a case of doing a job whenever I am needed. I am going to have to start working hard at my bowling."

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ICC summit with England on Zimbabwe

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