The England tour to Zimbabwe to go ahead as planned.

Despite speculation that the tour may be affected by the current political and civil unrest in Zimbabwe, John Read, Director of Corporate Affairs at the ECB, today explained that the ECB has no plans to cancel the tour at this stage, but will continue to monitor events in the country closely.

Read said: "We are still planning to go ahead with the tour but this is being constantly reviewed. We are in close contact with the government over the matter and are taking advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The tour is still six weeks away and we can not anticipate what is going to happen between now and then, but we will continue to monitor the situation closely."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are in close touch with the cricket board. The situation is being monitored."

England are due to play five One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe, three matches in Harare and two games in Bulawayo. The squad departs on September 26th, returning to the UK on 15th October.

© CricInfo