"At best, the ECB has sent out mixed messages about Zimbabwe. I am not arguing that Robert Mugabe is a good guy, but the global cricketing view is that Zimbabwe should continue to feature on the international fixture lists. Only England has failed to fulfil fixtures in Zimbabwe (during the 2003 World Cup). The most recent tour went ahead only after much indecision." – Steve Busfield in today’s Guardian.
Yes, the fact that England is the only cricket team to make even token efforts at boycotting the genocidal craziness that is Zimbabwe means that they’re racially dubious. Good effort…
Were you expecting slightly less loopy views from the Guardian?
I don’t think the view that British antipathy towards the Mugabe regime is driven by covert racism is bizarre. No one has been calling for a boycott of Musharaf’s Pakistan, yet he holds power as the result of a military coup. Consistency would seem to demand action in both cases, yet a boycott of Pakistan has not even been mooted. One of the clear differences (not that there aren’t others) is that some of the people Mugabe is oppressing are white. I’m not saying we shouldn’t boycott Zimbabwe, just that if we’re going to do that, we need to look at some other cases as well.
No one has been calling for a boycott of Musharaf’s Pakistan, yet he holds power as the result of a military coup.
A great many people called for a boycott of Musharraf’s Pakistan when he seized power in 1999, though these calls became increasingly muted when it became clear that he didn’t fit the standard military dictator stereotype, and disappeared altogether after 11 September, when he became an important ally in terms of cracking down on Islamic fundamentalists.
Given that a potential (if not likely) outcome of a boycott might be to put them in power, it seems pretty clear why it’s not an especially popular cause right now – especially given that Pakistan, unlike Zimbabwe, has nukes.
Consistency would seem to demand action in both cases
Only if both cases were so similar that such consistency would be expected – and I’d argue that they’re not.
Alright, let me put it another way. I agree that there are probably good reasons why we shouldn’t boycott Pakistan, while there are good reasons why we should boycott Zimbabwe. However, the noise-to-good-reasons ratio in the two cases does seem to me to have something to do with the race of the (some of) the people being oppressed, not to mention the commercial potential of subcontinental cricket. Some of the support for Mugabe may also have something to do with this.