Black Caps should show moral leadership and boycott Zimbabwe

The Greens are urging members of the New Zealand cricket team to exercise their right to pull out of this winter's tour to Zimbabwe on moral grounds.

Green Co-Leader Rod Donald has written to 25 international players contracted to New Zealand Cricket asking them to consider making themselves unavailable for selection for the tour, due in August.

The letters follow comments by NZ Cricket CEO Martin Snedden in this weekend's New Zealand Listener that players who objected to touring Zimbabwe on moral grounds would be free to stay home without facing adverse consequences to their future playing prospects.

"The Black Caps are role models with considerable power to take a strong stand against the brutality of the Zimbabwean regime," Mr Donald said. "Ideally, the Government and NZ Cricket would get together and decide to call off the tour. However, the players now have the power to force the hands of the authorities.

"Mr Snedden has said that players' playing careers will be unaffected if they decide to pull out of the Zimbabwe tour. That leaves players quite free to pull out of the tour without fear of it hurting their prospects of future selection. Realistically, if enough players exercised their consciences, the tour would have to be called off."

Mr Donald said refusing to tour Zimbabwe was an appropriate response to the political situation in that country, just as the sporting boycotts of South Africa were under apartheid.

"Actions speak louder than words. In the 1970s and 80s, hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders stood up for black South Africans by urging their sporting teams to cut all contacts with South Africa. Now, it's time to utilise the same tactics against Zimbabwe.

"The Mugabe Government is a brutal, illegitimate dictatorship that has just rigged what it claimed were free and fair elections. It has no respect for human rights, and intimidates and brutalises its enemies, including cricketers Henry Olonga and Andy Flower.

"Our cricketers should take the brave step of showing solidarity with Henry and Andy and the Zimbabwean people by refusing to give the Mugabe regime the respectability of welcoming international supporting teams.

"Cricket is an important part of Zimbabwean culture, and not being able to welcome international cricketing sides would be a blow to the regime's claims to legitimacy."

Mr Donald said he hoped the pressure the players brought to bear on NZ Cricket and the Government would see the tour called off.