Grant Flower has backed the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decision to ban Zimbabwe's cricketers from entering England for a one-day series next summer.

The board took the action after Culture Secretary Andy Burnham wrote to the ECB instructing them to cancel the tour and cut all ties with Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).

Cricket South Africa (CSA) also cut its links with the Union this week as steps are taken by countries to distance themselves from Zimbabwe's worsening political and economic situation under President Robert Mugabe.

The International Cricket Commission (ICC) board is expected to suspend Zimbabwe from all cricket when it meets in Dubai next week.

And that proposal - as well as the ECB's decision - has been endorsed by Harare-born Flower, who played 67 Test matches and 219 One-Day Internationals for his homeland before leaving for England and Essex in 2004 following a dispute with the country's governing body over political interference in the ZC.

"I do think the ECB and CSA have taken the right action. I was surprised South Africa came out that way, but that can only be a good thing," said the 37-year-old, whose brother Andy - an Essex player between 2002 and 2007 - protested against Mugabe by wearing a black armband during the 2003 World Cup.