Zimbabwe issue rears head

Further violence in Zimbabwe at the weekend has raised doubts over Australia's one-day international tour of the country later this year.

With four members of Zimbabwe's opposition stopped from leaving the country, and one allegedly attacked by police, Australian foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer has questioned the level of safety Ricky Ponting and his players would receive during the tour.

"I've not been a great fan of cricket tours to Zimbabwe and the final decision (rests) with the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC). And there are a lot of issues tied up there with contractual issues and so on," Downer said.

Australia are scheduled to play three one-dayers in September and having not toured the country since 2004, face a fine from the sport's governing body should they not go.

Both countries are currently competing in the World Cup in the West Indies and Downer added that he would sit down with Cricket Australia to discuss the matter at the completion of the competition next month.

"Once the World Cup is over, we'll talk to the Australian Cricket Board about this but we won't be doing that while they're focusing on the World Cup."

The ACB can escape a fine from the ICC if they can prove that there is a legitimate security threat in Zimbabwe.