Logan Cup could face another delay

The Logan Cup, Zimbabwe's first-class competition, might be heading for yet another postponement in the general unrest which has followed the country's presidential elections.

With results still not announced and reports of an escalation in the levels of security forces and war veterans on the streets, the B division of the competition, which should have started in Bulawayo last week, was delayed until this week and there remains confusion whether it will be able to start even then.

Unless Zimbabwe Cricket compresses the B section, which will now he staged in Harare, its postponement this week may as well affect the scheduled commencement of the A section, which had been penciled to take place between April 17 and May 20.

Zimbabweans went to the polls nine days ago to elect local government officials, members of parliament and the president. Sports events have come to a halt across Zimbabwe during the poll and post-election period.

If, as many fear, Robert Mugabe starts to use his security forces and war veterans to clamp down on any dissent ahead of a likely second round in the presidential elections, it will become increasingly difficult to stage any kind of competition. Serious fuel and food shortages have already hit participants, although ZC, courtesy of ICC funding, remains one of the country's richest sporting organisations.