England's short tour of Zimbabwe has finally been given the green light, ending weeks of speculation as to whether it would take place. The deteriorating political situation in the country had raised concerns that the safety of the players could not be guaranteed. But last week's settlement, which saw Robert Mugabe agree to Commonwealth–backed proposals to end the crisis, promised enough to reassure the English Cricket Board (ECB) that this was not a serious worry.

The other potential stumbling block had been the Zimbabwean government's dispute with the BBC, which had led to them refusing to grant visas to any of the corporation's journalists. Mugabe's anger at what he perceived to be the BBC's biased coverage of his Land Reform policy had led to the decision, and the ECB were unhappy at proceeding with the trip unless access was given to all British journalists.

But talks held this week between the ECB and their Zimbabwean counterparts resulted in the BBC being given the necessary visas.

A relieved ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said, "This has been a long process, but we're delighted the Zimbabwe Cricket Union have now agreed to allow all the media to enter the country to cover the tour".

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