The International Cricket Council will consider a request from the British government to ban Zimbabwe as punishment for increasing human rights abuses.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, however, implied that the request will be rejected and that its policy that international matches proceed unless blocked by government ban will remain.
"For the past three years at least, we've been asked that players be allowed not to comply with their agreements with Zimbabwe, or that cricket not be played in Zimbabwe," Speed said at a press conference Wednesday in the ICC's new headquarters in Dubai.
"[The] ICC position has been consistent: we say to governments that we don't take decisions based on political judgments -- we expect governments to do that."
The ICC board will discuss the issue during a four-day meeting and draft a response to the authors: Britain's foreign secretary Jack Straw and sports minister Tessa Jowell.
In July, the ICC board received a request from the New Zealand government that the ICC allow its national cricket team to be excused from playing in Zimbabwe in August and September.
Speed said the 10 ICC members -- including Zimbabwe -- were "comfortable" with play proceeding in the absence of an outright government ban.
Zimbabwe's autocratic President Robert Mugabe has imposed security laws that outlaw basic freedoms of association and speech, jailed independent journalists, and instigated a so-called 'urban clean-up campaign' that has left hundreds of thousands of citizens jobless.
The ICC, which moved its HQ from London and Monaco this month, chose the Middle East because of its central location among top cricket markets and the Emirate's status as a major air hub.
Dubai is a direct flight from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and England, with easy connections to New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Only from the West Indies is travel inconvenient.
Also to be discussed is a proposal to extend the schedule from five years to six as Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and New Zealand had been shortchanged on matches over the past decade.
"We want each country to have a full allocation for cricket," Speed said.
The board will also examine the growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket in England and South Africa and decide whether it should be part of the international season.
"We need to see whether it can add value to international cricket or take value away from it," Speed said. "We need to be careful to preserve 50-over and, particularly, test cricket."
Cricket has a good opportunity to spread its popularity in October when the Johnny Walker Super Series, which pits top-ranked Australia against the best players from the rest of the world, is televised into 133 countries.
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