New hint that tour may be off

England's cricket bosses have been given hope that they can avoid touring Zimbabwe after the Government indicated a debate in Parliament on the issue will be proposed next week.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will raise the matter at a meeting in London a week today with Sports Minister Tessa Jowell and officials from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

It will be the final attempt to convince the International Cricket Council that the British Government does not want November's tour to go ahead. Straw is prepared to allow a debate in both houses of Parliament, giving MPs a free vote on whether England should visit Zimbabwe.

While not amounting to a direct ban by the Government, a vote against the tour would carry great weight and could be interpreted by the ICC as something which made it impossible for England to fulfil their obligation to tour.

The ECB would then avoid a £1.1million fine and the possibility of being suspended from international cricket for a year, and consequently losing an estimated £50m in revenue. Chief executive Tim Lamb believes the parliamentary vote is unlikely to be accepted by other countries. He said: "The issue of compensation will be raised again if we don't go and some may believe it is not a good use of taxpayers' money."

Meanwhile, the 15 rebel Zimbabwe cricketers agreed to go back to work for the Zimbabwe

Cricket Union but the dispute is not over.

They will play again, but only if there is no political influence in selection.