MacLaurin still wary of penalties

England began their four-match series on Sunday

Former England cricket chief Lord MacLaurin insists international authorities could have levied penalties had the side not toured Zimbabwe.

The International Cricket Council says there is "sympathy" for England but refused to rule out a fine or ban.

"As part of the Test match agreement I signed we were able to maintain the Ashes tour every couple of years.

"If we didn't go to Zimbabwe the ICC board would say 'You'll play Australia once every five years," said MacLaurin.

"There's all sorts of punishments that could come our way so that's why England are there at the moment."

The clear message I got was that there was a huge amount of understanding and sympathy ICC president Ehsan Mani

England's tour only went ahead after 13 journalists originally denied accreditation by the Zimbabwe government were allowed into the country.

ICC president Ehsan Mani confirmed the media block would not have been a reasonable excuse to pull out.

As a result of a rule proposed by Australia, the ICC threatens fines of £1.5m and a Test ban for pulling out of a tour.

But any decision goes to a vote of the council's executive board and Mani told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme he had spoken to each of the members.

"The clear message I got was that there was a huge amount of understanding and sympathy for the predicament that England found itself in."

I don't think anyone in this country wants our team to be in Zimbabwe Lord MacLaurin Former ECB chairman

However, he refused to state with certainty that England would have avoided a penalty.

"We have 13 directors who would have looked at the matter in great detail and come to a decision," Mani added.

MacLaurin said he was convinced the British government did not want to tour to go ahead but they were unable to state that clearly enough to comply with ICC rules.

"I don't think anyone in this country wants our team to be in Zimbabwe," he told Sportsweek.

"But we signed an international agreement and our government quite clearly said they were not going to stop us going. It was a fait accompli.

"I went with the all-parliamentary cricket group to see [Foreign Secretary] Jack Straw and Jack didn't want us to go either.

"But politically he could not say that we can't go. So I am afraid we had to go."