their moral responsibility to uphold the
good name ofcricket and the noble values that the game represents.

By
allowing a team that has been "politically vetted" and whose patron isRobert
Mugabe to tour England, the ECB have tarnished the good name ofEnglish
cricket. The very fact that Mugabe is patron of the Zimbabwe CricketUnion
renders the cricketers touring here as inadvertent ambassadors of
aninsidious and illegitimate regime. The tour therefore misleadingly
suggeststhat things are normal in Zimbabwe.

Things are far from
normal in Zimbabwe: state sponsored violence isubiquitous, opposition MPs
are harassed, beaten and tortured, basicdemocratic rights have been
subverted whilst a politically inducedhumanitarian crisis has left over
seven million in desperate need of foodaid.

It was in protest against
the crisis in Zimbabwe that the courageousZimbabwean cricketers, Henry
Olonga and Andy Flower, wore black armbandsduring the Cricket world cup in
Zimbabwe. They sacrificed theirinternationalwhoallegedly
discussed Mugabe's "elimination". The tape was recorded justbefore
Ben-Menashe's firm signed a consultancy contract with the
Zimbabwegovernment.

"Prior to Mr. Ben-Menashe coming to Zimbabwe, we
had received informationfrom other sources that there was a plot to
assassinate the president ofZimbabwe," prosecution witness Happyton
Bonyongwe, director-general of theCentral Intelligence Organisation (CIO),
told the High Court.

Chief defence lawyer George Bizos objected to
Bonyongwe giving details,saying the information was prejudicial to his
clients and could not beverified.

Bonyongwe confirmed the CIO had
given Ben-Menashe's political consultancy acontract to lobby for the
government abroad and had paid him to get videotape evidence.

"He
wanted some financial assistance and a payment was made," Bonyongwe toldthe
court.

Ben-Menashe, challenged as an unreliable witness by the defence,
has said hetaped the meeting solely to get evidence for the government but
deniedentrapping Tsvangirai.

The defence says the video was doctored
to discredit the MDC, the mostpotent