England duo miss tour

The Lancashire star and opener Marcus Trescothick had both officially been rested by England's selectors.

"I told captain Michael Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher last week that I wasn't available," he told The Sun.

"Nothing's changed since those meetings and problems we had in Cape Town before the start of the World Cup."

There's still a long way to go and a lot of things can happen Darren Gough

Flintoff said he would have followed bowler Steve Harmison's stance of opting out of the five-match trip on moral grounds as a protest against Robert Mugabe's leadership.

"From everything I read and heard, things have got worse in Zimbabwe," he added.

"Most of us have seen images from the African country and the situation looks horrific.

"I didn't want to go then - so why should I want to go now?"

Veteran Darren Gough was named in the touring party but raised doubts over his own participation.

"If the plane had left this morning I'd have gone," he said.

"But there's still a long way to go and a lot of things can happen.

"There are a lot more conversations people have to have and they'll be going on over the next couple of months."

The BBC's Jonathan Agnew: Tour will benefit no-one

An inquiry into allegations of racism against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union will begin in Harare on Wednesday.

Ashley Giles was also invited to rest but he decided to tour.

Kevin Pietersen and Matthew Prior received call-ups for the first time when the 14-man squad was announced on Tuesday.

The ECB said the option of resting captain Michael Vaughan was also discussed.

Vaughan said he was not happy with the political situation in Zimbabwe but did not want to shirk a captain's responsibilities.

Squad for Zimbabwe: Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Kevin Pietersen, Matthew Prior, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Alex Wharf.