The Government is considering preventing the Zimbabwe cricket team touring England next summer but a blanket ban on sports stars from the southern African country is not on the agenda.

BBC's Inside Sport claimed last night that the option of banning Zimbabwean sports people from competing in this country is being discussed as part of a strategy to put pressure on Robert Mugabe's regime. But only cricket is being targeted, according to Government sources.

The Government will also wait until the outcome of the general election in Zimbabwe, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) inquiry into allegations of corruption within the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, before making a decision.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "Our position hasn't changed and no decisions have been taken, though the matter of cricket tours with Zimbabwe is under review.

"We are keeping in close contact with the ECB on the matter. While there are currently no sporting sanctions on Zimbabwe, we should not let international sport become a propaganda tool for dictators."

Suggestions that the ban could have a knock-on effect on other sports figures from Zimbabwe, such as Benjani Mwaruwari, the Manchester City striker, golfer Nick Price or the Zimbabwe Olympic team have been dismissed.

A possible compromise to only stop Zimbabwe’s cricketers from coming to the UK would not please the sport’s governing body, the ICC.

Currently, the Zimbabweans are due to play two five-day and three one-day internationals next summer. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would have to pay an estimated £225,000 in compensation under ICC rules if the one-day matches are cancelled.

Cricket chiefs have warned that England could lose the rights to host the 2009 World Twenty20 if Zimbabwe are banned. The ICC has so far refused to ban Zimbabwe despite numerous protests during matches involving the country.

The ECB has already held talks with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) to try and reach a financial settlement to call off the tour. There would be no penalty for scrapping the five-day games as Zimbabwe is no longer classed as a Test-playing nation.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture Media and Sport said: “There are ongoing discussions between the government and the England and Wales Cricket Board, but no decisions have been made.”

An ECB spokesman said the board would not comment until it had discussed the matter with government officials.

Tony Blair's government stopped short of banning England's cricketers from touring Zimbabwe, although authorities in Australia and New Zealand have done so with their sides.

Henry Olonga, the former Zimbabwean cricketer, who protested against Mugabe at the 2003 Cricket World Cup, said he welcomed the renewed attention given to the issue.

"It's great to see that Gordon Brown is taking a much stronger stance than his predecessor," he said. "Zimbabwe's in a desperate position, 100,000 per cent inflation, there's poverty across the whole country, so it's a deperate, desperate situation."

Last month Foreign Secretary David Miliband said a Zimbabwean tour of England would not send out “the right message”.

“The situation in Zimbabwe is obviously deeply concerning. I think that bilateral cricket tours at the moment don’t send the right message about our concern,” he said.

It has been reported in the past that Mr Brown wants to ban the tour in protest at Mugabe’s dictatorial policies and human rights abuses.

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