England's cricketers have been urged to boycott their World Cup match in Zimbabwe by a British minister who made a name for himself agitating against sporting links with apartheid-era South Africa.

Peter Hain, who is Welsh Secretary, said this year's tournament should be moved to South Africa, the co-hosts.

Mr Hain asked the players to "show some moral backbone" by refusing to play in Zimbabwe if the event goes ahead.

The government has said it wants England to pull out of February's game against Zimbabwe because of the human rights record of President Robert Mugabe's regime.

If Mugabe gets his way and the event proceeds, England should not go Peter Hain

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But it cannot force such a move and the cricketing authorities in England have said the decision is a political one and not for them to make.

England cricket captain Nasser Hussain has echoed this stance and asked the government to make the decision on behalf of English cricket.

Mr Hain said the credibility of the International Cricket Council and the Commonwealth depended on the whole event being switched to South Africa.

He wrote in the Independent on Sunday: "If Mugabe gets his way and the event proceeds, England should not go.

"But if their international sister organisations will not stand up for morality against oppression, if other governments will not back our own government's stand, then it is still important for English cricket to show some moral backbone.

"What will they do if ordinary Zimbabweans protest against the matches - as they well might - and are clubbed away mercilessly, maybe to death?"

Ministers' warning

The Independent on Sunday claims Mr Mugabe had been considering banning both the Australian and England cricket teams when the controversy first blew up, but decided against it.

Meanwhile the Sunday Telegraph reports that ministers will tell the England players not to shake hands with the president if they insist on going to Zimbabwe.

The warning, to be delivered by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Foreign Office minister Baroness Amos at a meeting with the England and Wales Cricket Board on Thursday, is because they fear handing the Zimbabwean leader a propaganda coup.

The International Cricket Council last week said it stood by its decision to go ahead with matches in Zimbabwe.

The radical: Mr Hain campaigning against apartheid

There has been an international outcry about Mr Mugabe's treatment of white farmers and opposition politicians, while millions face starvation in a humanitarian crisis.

Mr Hain said Mr Mugabe would exploit the World Cup to convey a sense of normality.

He accused the president of destroying the country for his own gain.

The minister first attracted widespread public attention for his efforts to disrupt the Springboks' 1970 rugby tour by staging pitch invasions and even gluing the locks on the players' hotel rooms.