THE will they, won't they saga of whether England's cricketers would end up playing in Zimbabwe reached almost pantomime status this week.

One minute we were being told England would not be playing their world cup match in Zimbabwe, and the next, that they would...then that they would not...and so it went on.

Somebody clearly needed to take responsibility early on in the situation and not allow it to get so out of hand.

I blame the politicians who were so outspoken against the match going ahead in the first place. It was they who placed the whole issue in the public arena.

They should have backed up their arguments by offering to help with any subsequent fines imposed on the England Cricket Board for not showing up -- or they should have kept their mouths shut.