Keith Bradshaw: 'If by not having the conference at Lord's can in any way ultimately help the people of Zimbabwe then it is a small price to pay' © Getty Images

Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive, has told the Guardian that he is not concerned that the ICC annual conference has been moved from Lord's after 99 years.

Last month, the ICC executive decided to switch the event to Dubai after doubts rose whether Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe Cricket's chairman, would be granted a visa to visit the UK. Chingoka has, according to government officials, strong links to Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party.

"With what is happening in Zimbabwe under the current regime, if by not having the conference at Lord's can in any way ultimately help the people of Zimbabwe then it is a small price to pay," Bradshaw told the newspaper. "I'm not so sure that it will, but if there is a small message that goes back then perhaps that is all we can do to help the people of Zimbabwe, because they need our help.

"Cricket is not a political tool but if in some way we can remove the obvious massive injustices that are happening in that country then we would support that, because people come first and the atrocities that are occurring there should not be tolerated."

A possible consequence should Chingoka remain unwelcome in the UK is that the ICC's centenary celebrations in 2009, which were to have been centred on Lord's, its home for almost all its existence, could be moved overseas.