Black Caps Ponder Zimbabwe Tour

Vaughan - expects a resolution.

New Zealand are set to tour the ever-troubled Zimbabwe next year unless the country's government should intervene.

New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has said that even though she does not want a side from her country to tour Zimbabwe, she will not step in to stop them from traveling.

"No ICC team has unilaterally pulled out because they haven't agreed with the politics of the host nation; that's always been a decision for the government of the day," New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan told Sunday Star-Times.

"It's a political question and requires a political solution; it's not a decision NZC should have to make.

"We are a group of cricket administrators. We might have strong feelings about the situation in Zimbabwe but judging international politics is not what we're about. There are other, far more qualified people to do that job, politicians for example."

While the moral issues surrounding the proposed tour have escalated of late, Vaughan points out that time is on New Zealand's side.

"The tour to Zimbabwe is a year away," he continued. "There'll be another ICC conference before then; undoubtedly, a lot will change in Zimbabwe in the next year, and by that time the ICC sub-committee appointed to investigate ZC will have reported back, and we'll have a clearer idea of the situation.

"You never know, we might not have to make a decision. Time is on our side at the moment."

The last time New Zealand visited Zimbabwe was in 2005, but Clark recently stated that she does not feel comfortable with the Black Caps returning as she does not feel that Zimbabwe is a country fit to play cricket against.

In 2005 the government intervened by banning Zimbabwe from touring after they refused to grant their players visas.