THE desperate political situation in Zimbabwe yesterday sent Hampshire Cricket's preparations for their big clash with Gloucestershire into confusion.

The good news is that captain Shane Warne yesterday left Zimbabwe following the cancellation of Australia's controversial Test series and immediately jetted back to England to lead Hampshire in the National League Division One match at Bristol.

The bad news, though, is that Aussies Michael Clarke and Shane Watson are today flying in the opposite direction after being called-up for the hastily re-scheduled one-day series against Zimbabwe which now starts on Tuesday.

That means Hampshire's FOURTH Aussie, Michael Dighton, has been drafted in to face Gloucestershire tomorrow - more than a week before his planned debut for the county.

The situation is further complicated by news yesterday that leading bowlers Dimi Mascarenhas and Chris Tremlett have been ruled out by side and shoulder injuries respectively.

Manager Paul Terry admitted it had been a "chaotic" few days.

At the beginning of the week, Hampshire expected to be without Warne, but with Clarke and Watson.

Then it briefly appeared Australia would pull-out of Zimbabwe completely and the trio of Aussies would all be available for selection.

But finally it emerged that the one-day series would go ahead next week with Dighton needing to be called up to replace Clarke or Watson.

"We had to wait and see whether Shane could get a flight out of Zimbabwe," said Terry.

"But Shane will be here, we are pretty much certain. He has had to fly to Johannesburg and then back here, which is another eight hours from Johannesburg.

"But he will have a day to recover and he'll be fine - he's done it before.

"It's good to get Warney back, but obviously we miss out on one of the other two."

The Test series was postponed after agreement by representatives of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and Cricket Australia ahead of a teleconference scheduled for yesterday afternoon by the ICC when Zimbabwe's could have been stripped of their Test status.

It was agreed to bring forward the one-day series, with the matches to be played in Harare on May 25, 27 and 29.

The controversy erupted after Zimbabwe were forced to play a second-string side against Sri Lanka after a host of players, including former captain Heath Streak, refused to play for the team because of the dispute concerning selection policy.

The ZCU has been at loggerheads with many of its players for some time, with the country suffering the effects of Robert Mugabe's ruling regime.