Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer. - Reuters

SYDNEY (Reuters);

THE AUSTRALIAN Government is considering legal action to prevent the country's national cricket team from touring Zimbabwe, later this year.

Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, said the Government was determined to scrap the tour in protest over Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's regime.

Downer met officials from Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association in Melbourne, yesterday, but they failed to reach an immediate agreement.

Investigating legal options

However, Downer later told reporters the Government would be investigating its legal options to prevent the tour from proceeding.

"We don't want the tour to go ahead, and so we explained to them that we are going to explore legal options, whereby we may be able to stop it," Downer said.

"I'm not sure it's going to work, but we are exploring those options ... if there is some existing legal basis to stop it, that's an option for us."

Aware of gov't's views

CA chief executive, James Sutherland, said his organisation was aware of the Government's views, but the issue was complicated and it was yet to make a decision.

Sutherland said CA was equally conscious of its commitment to international cricket, which includes regular visits to ICC-recognised nations, including Zimbabwe, under the future tours programme.

"I think there's clearly strong sentiment for us not to go around the country," Sutherland said.

"We understand that ... (but) at the same time, there's not just an open-and-shut case.

"Cricket Australia finds itself in a very difficult and complex issue and, from that perspective, we hope people understand that we are not operating in a vacuum here."