Zimbabwe's withdrawal hands Scotland a place in the tournament

Zimbabwe have formally withdrawn from next year's ICC World Twenty20 tournament in England - which means Scotland will take part in their place.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Zimbabwe Cricket have ratified a decision which had been agreed at the ICC's annual conference in July.

Scotland, who finished third in the recent ICC qualifier, will face New Zealand and South Africa in Group D.

Ireland, meanwhile, will move up to take Zimbabwe's place in Group A.

The Irish, who had initially been in Group B with England, will face India and Bangladesh - while England now meet Pakistan and the Netherlands.

606: DEBATE Give your reaction to the news

There had been reports that Zimbabwe were wavering over their offer to pull out of the tournament, which Zimbabwe Cricket president Peter Chingoka said at the time was "in the wider interest of cricket".

But ICC president David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and chief executive Haroon Lorgat have agreed with Zimbabwe officials that the July decision - which fell short of suspending Zimbabwe from international cricket as some had wanted - will stand.

Morgan said: "We are grateful to Zimbabwe Cricket for confirming the decision taken by its officials during annual conference week.

"This allows the ICC the opportunity to plan with certainty the ICC World Twenty20 2009 - as well as giving Scotland, the side set to step up in Zimbabwe's place, plenty of preparation time ahead of the tournament."

An ICC statement said the decision was also taken because of "a recognition of the logistical challenges of putting on an event of the size of the ICC World Twenty20".

It's great news for us and all the players Scotland coach Peter Steindl

UK government officials had previously stated that the Zimbabwe team would not be welcome in Britain because of President Robert Mugabe's regime, and both England and South Africa's cricket boards also broke off relations with Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Scotland coach Peter Steindl welcomed the announcement.

He said: "It's brilliant. It's great news for us and all the players, and we're looking forward to the tournament.

"It's a good way for us to develop our game, and it's also a chance for us to develop the game in Scotland."

But despite facing South Africa and New Zealand, two of the semi-finalists in last year's World Cup, Steindl insisted: "We are going to go in there and be competitive.

"Those teams are strong in the 50-over and 20-over formats."

Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith added: "We're delighted. We were expecting this decision so it's nice it's all finally resolved."

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