YES: Hampshire chairman Rod insists: ECB had no choice. NO: Legend Robin blasts: They should come back home...

ROBIN SMITH has criticised the England and Wales cricket Board for allowing the tour of Zimbabwe to go ahead - but Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove has leapt to the ECB's defence.

Hampshire batsman Kevin Pietersen is expected to play in the first of the four one-day internationals in Harare tomorrow after the Zimbabwean government backed down on their decision to ban large sections of the British media.

But former England batsman Smith believes that the ECB have missed the "perfect opportunity" to call off the controversial tour of a once beautiful country ravaged by the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.

Smith was born in South Africa but moved to Southampton to play for Hampshire as a teenager and went on to win 63 England caps.

He said: "I'm really disappointed in the way the ECB have handled the issue. They should have learnt from last time round and they were given the perfect opportunity to pull out of the tour when the press weren't granted permission to enter the country.

"That has changed but the ECB should have taken the chance when they had it.

"I've always been slightly biased as I come from South Africa and know a lot of people who have been affected by the regime of Robert Mugabe, but I don't blame the players. They're not politicians and shouldn't have been put in this position.

"A lot of them are trying to establish themselves in the England side but the decision should have been made for them.

"If I was put in that position as a 23-year-old trying to get into the side I would probably have gone out there to play as well. But I would have pulled out on moral grounds if I was asked to go as an established player later on in my career."

England's World Cup match in Zimbabwe in February 2003 was called off by the ECB because of safety concerns. England forfeited World Cup points on that occasion but since then the situation in Zimbabwe has worsened. Yet four one-day internationals, two in Harare and two in Bulawayo, will be played in the next eight days.

As a result the ECB, particularly chairman David Morgan, have been criticised for not making a special case to the International Cricket Council, which has the power to sanction fines that could cripple English cricket if Michael Vaughan and his men were to pull out. But Bransgrove, who is a member of the ECB management board, reckons that criticism has been unwarranted

He said: "We won't make any real comment about the tour until it's over but David Morgan has been steadfast in his leadership and been very consistent throughout.

"The only time we considered withdrawing was when the press were banned but the Zimbabwe authorities have rectified that so the position hasn't changed.

"We might not have challenged the ICC in public but we would be taking a huge risk if we didn't tour because our stock in world cricket isn't high."