"I hope that the England cricket team take cognisance of the fact that if they go to Zimbabwe they will go in very odd circumstances that may not reflect to their credit," Foreign Office Minister for Europe Denis MacShane told a parliamentary committee.

Zimbabwe is due to host six first-round matches of the cricket 2003 World Cup in Harare and Bulawayo in February, but fears have been expressed over player safety due to political upheaval in the country. England are scheduled to play Zimbabwe in the capital Harare on February 13.

MacShane, who was sitting in for Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at the Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, added, however, that it would not be appropriate to call for a specific ban on England playing in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has been plagued with violence in the wake of Mugabe's controversial land reform programme, leading to calls for the cricket World Cup to be moved to South Africa.

Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), said late last month that countries whose teams refuse to play in Zimbabwe could face legal action.

Australia and England have shown the most concern about playing in Zimbabwe. India, Pakistan, Namibia and the Netherlands are also due to play there.

England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman Mark Hodgson told Reuters: "The chief executive of the ICC made a recent visit to Zimbabwe and we are awaiting his report and recommendations which I understand will be available in a week or so.

"It's up to politicians to decide what should or should not be done and the sport's governing body, the ICC, to decide on matters of safety and the running of the tournament and so forth. We will wait for whatever is in the ICC report."