Cricket South Africa (CSA) said it’s ready to be the “neutral host” in case Australia and Zimbabwe agree to go ahead with their controversial one-day series.The three-match ODI series runs the risk of being scrapped altogether after the Australian government banned its cricketers from travelling to Zimbabwe in protest against the Robert Mugabe regime in the trouble-torn African nation.Subsequently, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland floated the idea of having South Africa as a possible neutral venue. Sutherland’s South African counterpart, Gerald Majola, said CSA would be happy to host the event, provided both the teams agreed to the proposal.ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, who backs the neutral venue idea, said, “Given the choice between that and those matches not taking place at all, we would obviously prefer them to be played.“That will be for the two boards to work out but we would encourage them to look at all options,” Speed said. Melbourne: Matthew Hayden is grateful to the Australian government for the decision to cancel the national team’s Zimbabwe tour as he was contemplating pulling out of the series if it went ahead. The left-hander said he had grave concerns about whether he should tour Zimbabwe.“I was seriously considering my position this time, as to whether I would go if the tour went ahead,” Hayden said. “I considered not going last time (2004), but went in the end. I think this time it could have been a case of once bitten, twice shy. I felt our safety was compromised a bit (in 2004),” he was quoted as saying by The Australian.
