A TEACHER from Zimbabwe, who is now working at a school in Kent, has praised the England cricketers for pulling out of their match in Harare today.

Paul Bourdillon, who was captain of Zimbabwe's under-20 cricket team and toured Barbados with Mike Atherton, said he respected the players' decision and he thought they had been put in an impossible position.

Mr Bourdillon stressed: "Although they have said they have cancelled the game over safety worries I think they have taken a principled stand which has financial and professional implications," Mr Bourdillon said.

"The decision is all about the morality of the government in Zimbabwe and Mugabe is at the centre of that."

Mr Bourdillon, who came to Canterbury in September to take up the post of head of woodwind at his school in the city, is a friend of the two Zimbabwean cricketers, Henry Olonga and Andy Flower, who both wore black armbands during Monday's world cup game against Namibia in Harare.

They also signed a statement deploring violence against opposition activists while mourning "the death of democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe".

Mr Bourdillon has played cricket with Mr Flower and Mr Olonga and has also worked musically with Mr Olonga, who is a talented musician, as well as being Zimbabwe's first black test cricketer.