Zimbabwe have pulled out of the World Twenty20 in England next summer. The country will remain a member of the ICC, however.

Talks in Dubai on the future of Zimbabwe cricket dragged into a third day after England and South Africa broke off cricketing relations last week. The British Government had made it clear it would not issue visas to Zimbabwean players, which could have forced the ICC to move the lucrative tournament out of England, but today's decision quells that fear.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union president, Peter Chingoka, said his country had voluntarily pulled out of the event. "Zimbabwe has agreed not to participate in the Twenty20 world championships in the wider interest of cricket," Chingoka said.

"But we will continue to be a full member of the ICC and welcome any team that wants to play against us.

"We voluntarily agreed to back out of the Twenty20 [championship] because we were told we won't get visas to England. We don't want to gatecrash where we are not welcome."

India's stance to back Zimbabwe had proved a stumbling block as they are one of the sport's powerhouses, but India asked them to consider taking a temporary step backwards to avoid the crisis that would be precipitated by a continuing stand-off.

There had been calls for the ICC to remove the African country's full member status during their series of executive meetings this week. That would have been a controversial move and would have required at least seven of the ten full member countries to concur.

The majority of the sub-continental teams were against such a proposal and, as a result, a compromise has been reached which allows the inaugural World Twenty20 to go ahead without Zimbabwe. Without such an agreement the tournament would have been thrown into chaos as the British Government had made it clear that cricket teams representing Robert Mugabe's country were not welcome in the UK.

An alternative venue would have had to have been found even though many arrangements had already been made and some tickets sold.

"The Zimbabwe delegation to ICC Annual Conference week is aware of the decision of the British Government not to allow its bilateral series in England in 2009 to go ahead," said a statement from the ICC.

"Zimbabwe Cricket has also taken note that the British Government is likely to refuse to grant visas for the Zimbabwe cricket team to take part in the ICC World Twenty20 2009. Therefore, the Zimbabwe delegation has decided to recommend to its board that the team should withdraw from that event.

"The delegation has undertaken to report back on the decision of its board to the ICC within one month. The delegation will report to its board that it will not suffer financially as a result of its non-participation in the ICC World Twenty20 2009.

"The Zimbabwe delegation has agreed to take this decision in the greater interest of world cricket and the ICC. This recommendation should be viewed as a one-off and will not be taken as a precedent."

India and England are also split over the forthcoming Twenty20 Champions League. David Collier, the ECB chief executive, argued during six hours of talks elsewhere that counties should not be blocked from the event if they field players from the unofficial Indian Cricket League.

England and South Africa have emerged as alternative hosts for the ICC Champions Trophy in September if Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the reserve choice, fail to meet security demands. The tournament brings together only the leading eight countries, so Zimbabwe’s presence would not be an issue.

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