Australia leg-spinner Stuart MacGill has refused to take part in the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe on moral and ethical grounds. The Nottinghamshire bowler has made himself unavailable as he "did not believe he could tour Zimbabwe and maintain a clear conscience".
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said MacGill would not be punished for refusing to go on tour.
Sutherland added that the rest of the team agreed to go ahead with the tour.
"Our head of cricket operations, Michael Brown, and I have had a number of discussions with players since before the World Cup, including a number who have personal concerns about the ethics and morality of playing in Zimbabwe," said Sutherland.
"We all understand the difficulty and complexity of the issue.
"But Cricket Australia, the player group and the Australian Cricketers Association have agreed that, on balance, playing Zimbabwe cricketers in Zimbabwe is appropriate for the continued development of cricket as a global sport.
"We go there to play cricket with other cricketers to fulfil our obligations to world cricket through the ICC future tours program, and for no other reason."
 |  I have given this a lot of thought over a long period of time, and personally do not believe the situation in Zimbabwe is such that I can tour at this stage |
Australia's foreign minister has sided with MacGill, calling on the International Cricket Council to take action against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.
"The cricket board has contractual obligations with the ICC, and for them just to cancel tours can impose enormous financial penalties on Australian cricket," Alexander Downer told Australian radio.
"Nevertheless, if the Zimbabweans are going to persist in choosing cricket teams on the basis of the race of players, then that's a matter the ICC should focus on."
MMIX
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