England players 'fully committed' to going to Zimbabwe

Richard Bevan, the managing director of the Professional Cricketers' Association, last night angrily denied reports of a split in the England squad over the match against Zimbabwe in Harare.

"There is no rift between the players and the England and Wales Cricket Board and there is no split within the England squad," said Bevan, who insisted that the players would fulfil the fixture on 13 February. "The players are as one in their commitment to their contracts." He added that a statement will be issued today.

Bevan was angered at comments made by the ECB chairman, David Morgan, which seemed to indicate that the England players had had a change of heart about playing in Harare. Before the second one-day final against Australia in Melbourne, the England players received propaganda leaflets outlining the probability of violence on the streets in Harare. Afterwards Morgan was quoted as saying: "In the last week the pressure has built on them and they are examining their consciences. They are uncertain about playing cricket in Zimbabwe in the current environment. Nasser Hussain advised me that the players that were ready to go a week ago are less ready now."

Bevan responded sharply, saying: "We're totally surprised at David Morgan's comments. Maybe we expected to get ambushed by the media at some time, but not by the chairman of the ECB. Nasser went to meet him and explained the players' thoughts and that they had reservations... but that's not to say they weren't going to commit to the ECB and actually go."

Tim Lamb, the ECB's chief executive, was adamant the match would go ahead. "The best information we have is that the players are fully committed to going. I can assure you that the ECB would never knowingly send its players into any country if it felt that those players were under threat."

Concerns over security are mounting by the day, but the International Cricket Council president, Malcolm Gray, insisted they would not take the easy way out. "Zimbabwe is a full member of the ICC and has the same right as any other member to host part of the World Cup when it's in their region."