By Adam Parsons BBC Sport correspondent

Who would want to be in the shoes of the decision-makers of English cricket, as they worry about whether or not their players should go to Zimbabwe?

Confronted by a moral quandary, hemmed in by the demands of government, anxious about the money due to come into their pockets.

And time against them.

It is only a month and a half until England are due to be playing in Harare, and yet it is far from certain that they'll even be going there.

Certainly if Tony Blair had his way, the England and Wales Cricket Board would have cancelled this match to send a signal to Robert Mugbe that his regime has run out of goodwill.

This is, of course, simply a matter of posturing, of hidden messages, of things implied and inferred

But this, as the government has not tired of saying, is not a decision for them to make.

So instead, it is abrogated to the ECB. Left to them to decide the moral rights and wrongs of a desperately confused situation. As if English cricket did not have enough on its plate, what with Brett Lee bouncers and Ronnie Irani's ever-frantic hunt for form, it now has to take a role in international diplomacy.

This is, of course, simply a matter of posturing, of hidden messages, of things implied and inferred.

The ECB may have been left to make this decision on its own, but it knows full well that this is not something that can be decided in isolation.

And that is why it is so remarkable that the government has been so sluggish in seizing the initiative.

Government distaste

Certainly now we all know what the ministers think, and the prime minister, but the ECB can rightly wonder why these opinions are being expressed now, when the World Cup is so near.

They wonder why the government could not have expressed their distaste months ago.

They wonder why no minister expressed his or her misgivings before, even though ECB officials have sat in meetings with Tony Blair and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell in recent months.

Nothing said, no fears expressed.

15 months ago, England were playing a series of one-day internationals in Zimbabwe, with only a small group of backbenchers choosing to kick up a fuss.

Now, the idea of playing cricket in Harare seems to appal the entire government.

And perhaps it appals many more.

Shaking hands

Certainly there are plenty who fear Mr Mugabe will exploit the arrival of England's cricketers for every gram of political capital, as if a single game of cricket could whitewash his nation's dwindling international standing.

He is the president of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, so Nasser Hussain and his team will certainly end up shaking his hand should they play in Harare.

Within the ECB, they know what Mugabe is like. "A terrible despot", according to one senior figure I spoke to, but they understand pragmatism just as well.

And pragmatism dictates that the board, with their annual turnover of �65m, cannot afford to throw themselves easily on the swords of cricket's moral high ground.

nobody can quantify the human cost or the moral implications of not boycotting Zimbabwe's rotten regime

If they boycott Zimbabwe, they fear the Zimbabweans will cancel their tour to England later this year.

A lucrative television contract, the drip feed of cash that keeps the ECB content, stands at risk.

And there could be more - a fine from the World Cup organisers; perhaps even a question mark over the extraordinarily generous television deal that underpins the entire World Cup.

Nobody knows how much money this decision is worth, just as nobody can quantify the human cost or the moral implications of not boycotting Zimbabwe's rotten regime.

It is a wretched decision for someone to make.

But it is one the ECB will have to confront sooner rather than later.

My suspicion is that, without some compensation to soothe them, the players will be sent to Zimbabwe, and the government will be sent into a rage.