Sydney, May 4:

The Australian government signalled on Friday that it is likely to call on the country’s cricketers to cancel a planned tour of Zimbabwe this year.

Prime Minister John Howard, a strong critic of the regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, said the government would pay fines of up to $1.6 million, which could be imposed by the ICC. Australia are due to play three one-dayers in the troubled southern African nation in September.

Howard told reporters he and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer would discuss the tour with Cricket Australia “because the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated very badly”. He said players should be consulted but the government would make the final decision. “In the end, foreign policy decisions have got to be taken and the situation in Zimbabwe is quite unacceptable,” he said.

“We would indemnify Cricket Australia for any compensation it might have to pay to the international body. It would not be fair to visit the cost of a foreign policy decision on a sporting body,” he added.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting, speaking on Thursday before Howard’s remarks, raised the possibility of some players boycotting the tour if it went ahead. “There are some issues there and every individual player will be asked what their own views on that are, and they’ll have a chance to make up their own mind what they want to do,” he told The Australian.