Gordon Brown is set to ban the Zimbabwean cricket team from touring England next year because of political opposition to Robert Mugabe's regime.

Downing Street revealed this morning that it would be holding discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on the fate of the 2009 tour, although officials emphasised that no final decision had been reached.

The development came after The Times reported last month that talks had already started between English cricketing authorities, Zimbabwean officials and the Government over pulling the plug on the tour.

If it is asked to scrap the fixtures, the ECB will incur a bill of £225,000 in compensation under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.

It is believed that England will also seek to ban Zimbabwe from attending the World Twenty20 tournament, which is due to be held here in June 2009.

Asked about whether a decision had been reached this morning, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I think that it’s very early to be making these sorts of decisions.

"We obviously will need to discuss this with the ECB closer to the time. A decision will have to be made about this at some point, but we are not at that point at the moment."

Preventing Zimbabwe from touring would mark the latest stage of a campaign by Mr Brown to isolate Mr Mugabe's regime. The Prime Minister refused to attend an EU-Africa summit last month because the Zimbabwean President was present.

The decision, if reached, would also mark the latest in a series of occasions in which international cricket has clashed with politics over Zimbabwe.

Last May John Howard, then Australian Prime Minister, ordered his country’s cricketers to pull out of a scheduled tour to Zimbabwe, saying it would be a propaganda coup for Mr Mugabe, whom he called "a grubby dictator".

In 2005, New Zealand refused visas for Zimbabwe’s cricketers, preventing them from playing a planned tour against the Kiwis.

Zimbabwe have not played Test cricket since 2005 when they voluntarily withdrew amid concern about a collapse in the standard of their performance. But they have continued to play one-day cricket, and during September’s World Twenty20 they caused an upset by beating Australia in Cape Town.

Last month, The Times reported that England's cricket chiefs were already lining up replacements to take over some of Zimbabwe's matches in 2009, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh earmarked.