Former English cricket chief Lord MacLaurin, now chairman of national team sponsors Vodafone, has already voiced his displeasure about the tour.

"We do not want to support a side that goes and plays in a country with the sort of regime that is reviled, not just by this company, but by many in the country," he commented.

And he has found support from within Tony Blair's Labour government.

"Essentially our position has not changed," a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told the Guardian.

"Ministers made it clear before the World Cup that they did not want an England cricket team to play in Zimbabwe and nothing has changed on the ground to alter that view.

"The tour is still a long way away but if things remain the same in Zimbabwe we would suggest that the team does not tour."

MacLaurin does not want the telecommunications company's image tarnished by supporting a tour hosted by Robert Mugabe's controversial regime.

And former player Henry Olonga, who was forced to quit after wearing a black armband symbolising the "death of democracy in Zimbabwe", has also backed a boycott of the tour.

"I think he's spot on. The situation in Zimbabwe has not improved. The common citizens are living in abject poverty.

"It would be wrong for any country to go touring in Zimbabwe at the moment," the fast bowler said.

He hit the headlines during the World Cup earlier this year when he and teammate Andy Flower wore black armbands during Zimbabwe's opening match.

Olonga is currently living and working in England.

"I don't know how much Vodafone's sponsorship is worth, but I suppose the England and Wales Cricket Board will be in a bit of a quandary now," he said.

"The English and Australian governments and the United States have been very up front and vocal in their disapproval of the regime in Zimbabwe, but I think more can be done.

"Opportunities like this are absolutely perfect to illustrate how strongly those governments feel.

"Obviously the government doesn't have the jurisdiction over whether the cricket team goes or not. But at some point, they've got to streamline and be on the same page."

But Vince Hogg, managing director of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, says the tour will go ahead.

He told the BBC website: "I believe England will fulfil the fixtures. I've had no indications that they won't."

England, citing security concerns, refused to play in Zimbabwe during the World Cup, forfeiting points which ultimately led to their failure to progress beyond the first round.