Zim's anxious hours

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said on Thursday Zimbabwe had provided useful information on security plans for next month's World Cup matches, but declined to say if he believed the controversial games should go ahead.

After two days of talks in Harare, Speed said he would make a full report to the ICC executive board which meets on Friday in a teleconference to discuss various World Cup issues.

"We have gathered information which is very useful," Speed told reporters at an airport news conference.

"There are a number of concerns about safety and security in this country that we are well aware of...but we have taken them on board and that will form part of the report to the board tomorrow," Speed said.

England and Australia have both resisted calls from their governments to boycott matches in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe faces criticism over policies which opponents say have led to economic crisis and political unrest.

Speed declined to say what exactly he would say to the ICC board and remained non-committal on whether Zimbabwe's six World Cup games would go ahead as planned.

"I'm not making any comment about that," Speed said. "It was very productive. We had a lot of meetings and a lot of frank and honest answers from a lot of people with whom we met."

Friday's ICC board meeting is expected to address a number of questions, including whether player safety can be guaranteed in Zimbabwe and in Kenya, where other matches are scheduled.

Speed, speaking later to reporters in Johannesburg, said any member country of the ICC board could ask for the Zimbabwe matches to be scrapped if it felt security preparations were inadequate.

"If one of the board members....be that England or Australia or anyone, wants to test the board's previous decision, that is certainly open to them," he said.

He added the matches could still be rescheduled, although this would grow more difficult as the event nears.

"It could be done quite late. There are obviously practical problems with moving matches. It could be done up until a week, five or six days before the event," he said.

World Cup chief organiser Ali Bacher, who accompanied Speed on his visit to Harare, said he was encouraged by assurances from Zimbabwean police officials that security preparations were well underway for the games.

"I was pretty heartened by their desire that it should go off in Zimbabwe without any problems," Bacher said. "We are very reassured by the manner in which they want to handle this security operation during the World Cup."

The tournament has been plagued by doubts over plans to hold matches in both Zimbabwe and Kenya, where security fears sharpened in December after suicide bombers killed 12 people in an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa.

Forty six of the 54 World Cup matches are being held in South Africa where the tournament starts on February 9.

Speed and Bacher said that Zimbabwe had repeated promises that all international journalists accredited to cover World Cup matches would be allowed to enter the country which has recently tightened restrictions on foreign reporters.

Several international media organisations were this week denied visas to travel to Zimbabwe with a World Food Programme mission to survey critical food shortages now faced by more than half of the country's 14 million people.

"We understand from the government that international journalists accredited for the event will be able to come here to cover the cricket...freely," Speed told reporters.

Bacher added that Zimbabwean police had promised that opposition supporters -- several of whom have recently been arrested in what they describe as a pre-cricket clampdown by Mugabe's government -- would be allowed to stage protests during the competition.

"We've got the assurance from the (police) commissioner today that provided the process is proper....then they will permit peaceful protest demonstration," Bacher said.