Sport 26-09-2003 Sponsor Calls For Zimbabwe Boycott who: BT chairman Lord MacLaurin what: Says England should not tour Zimbabwe where: LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: "The England and Wales Cricket Board have been urged to cancel England`s tour of Zimbabwe next year by their chief sponsors Vodafone," says The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com. "Former ECB chief Lord MacLaurin is now chairman of the telecommunications group and he believes such a trip would provide bad publicity both for his company and Michael Vaughan`s side." "We do not want to support a side that goes and plays in a country with the sort of regime that is reviled not just by this company but by many in the country," says the 66 year-old telecoms supremo, quoted in The Guardian. "To do so would be abhorrent and would be good for the brand image neither of Vodafone nor England cricket." "England pulled out of a World Cup fixture in Harare earlier this year for safety reasons," recalls the BBC. "They also received political pressure to pull out on moral grounds. "ECB chief executive Tim Lamb admitted his board would consider the sponsor`s views and insisted the tour was under constant review." Meanwhile, in other cricket news, Lancashire fast bowler James Anderson has pulled out of the tour of Bangladesh, which begins on October 7th, to rest a knee injury, reports The Mirror. His replacement will be announced next week but The Independent`s David Llewellyn says the front-runner is Sussex seamer James Kirtley. [... more]

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