Ponting 'comfortable' not touring Zimbabwe

Sydney, May 13 (UNI) World Cup winnig skipper Ricky Ponting today said he was 'comfortable' with the federal government's decision to scrape this year's tour of Zimbabwe, but added it was the duty of Australian players to promote and play cricket in all countries.

''As far as this situation is concerned, I'm comfortable that the Australian government has taken the responsibility for making international affairs decisions on behalf of the country,'' Ponting said in a statement.

''As captain of Australia, I've never had a problem playing against international cricketers from Zimbabwe.

''And as a playing group, the Australian squad understands its responsibility to spread the word of cricket throughout the world by playing against all (International Cricket Council) member countries and, from time to time, in non-member countries as well.'' Australian Prime Minister today forwarded a letter to CA chief executive James Sutherland instructing him to cancel the three-match series for fear of giving ''an enormous propaganda boost to the Mugabe regime.'' ''We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost to the (President Robert) Mugabe regime,'' the Prime Minister told ABC Television.

''I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it will be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator,'' he said.

Cricket Australia has been reluctant to announce a ban on the September one-day series because that would have made it potentially liable for a 2.4 million Australian dollar compensation payment to Zimbabwe.

Mr Howard said a government ban, which would avoid incurring a fine, was the best course of action, even though it pained him as a cricket lover.

''It's pretty obvious to me that the players and the body wanted to act in conformity with public opinion but in the end, not surprisingly, they wanted a situation where the decision was taken by the government and not the players,'' he said.

''I don't think it's fair to leave a foreign policy decision of this magnitude on the shoulders of young sportsmen.

''It's much better, in the end, for the government to take the rap.

''I'm not going to stand around and allow some kind of aid and comfort be given to him by the greatest cricketing team in the world visiting his country,'' Mr Howard added.

Australia has cancelled cricket tours before - South Africa's scheduled visit in 1971-72 was scrapped by then-board chairman, Don Bradman, in opposition to apartheid laws, and Australia's visit to Pakistan in 2002 was transferred to a neutral venue over security concerns - but today's announcement is the first occasion the government has instigated such a move.

UNI