Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower and black team mate Henry Olonga today declared they would wear black armbands to mourn the "death of democracy" in their country as they opened their World Cup campaign today. Former skipper Flower and pace bowler Olonga, in a joint statement released just before Zimbabwe's Group A game against Namibia, said: "We are making a silent plea to those responsible to stop the abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe. We pray that our small action may help to restore sanity and dignity to our nation".
Flower, arguably Zimbabwe's greatest-ever player and among the top batsmen in the world, is not expected to play a major event for Zimbabwe again. Olonga is the first black player to play for Zimbabwe.
"We cannot in good conscience take to the field and ignore the fact that millions of our compatriots are starving, unemployed and oppressed," the statement said.
"We are aware that hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans may even die in the coming months through a combination of starvation and poverty and AIDS.
"We have heard a torrent of racist hate speech directed at minority groups".
Australian and Britain have led calls for Commonwealth sanctions against Zimbabwean leader Mr Robert Mugabe, accusing him of rigging his re-election in 2002 and compounding Africa's food crisis by seizing white-owned farms to give to blacks.