Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola was muted in his response on Wednesday to a call by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for England to boycott Zimbabwe's cricketers.
The UK's Guardian newspaper quoted Tutu as saying that banning Zimbabwe's scheduled tour of England next year would send a powerful message that the world considered President Robert Mugabe a "pariah".
Said Majola: "Those are Archbishop Tutu's personal views, and he is entitled to express them."
Delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lords in London on Tuesday night, Tutu made an impassioned plea for Zimbabwe cricketers to be barred from playing in England while Mugabe was president of that country.
"I would say it is a non-violent pressure that can be brought to bear. People will say Mugabe doesn't play cricket, but the more you make him aware that he has become a pariah, the better," said Tutu.
"I believe that a significant part of the population in Zimbabwe would say the cricketers should not be here, because you are lending a legitimacy and respectability to a country that is in a shambles because of one person.
"It would also say to those who are the victims of this vicious policy, you are not forgotten and people care enough to take action where they can. What happened in South Africa clearly indicates that you cannot claim there are compartments in life where you say sport and politics never mix. It is untrue." the Guardian quoted Tutu as saying.
Zimbabwe was scheduled to play Test and one-day international series in England in 2009, but the British government had indicated it would refuse visas for the players if Mugabe was still in power.
Zimbabwe was the most divisive issue in world cricket. Last month, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Malcolm Speed, resigned because of ongoing disagreements with ICC President Ray Mali, a South African who had been a steadfast supporter of Zimbabwe cricket.
Mali was quoted in Zimbabwe media on Tuesday as saying that cricketing ties between Zimbabwe and other nations should be maintained.
However, Mali acknowledged that Zimbabwe's status was uncertain.
"The ICC cannot control the views of members and, more pertinently, the views of the governments of members," he said.
In a question and answer session after Tutu's speech, England opening batsman Andrew Strauss said England players would consider boycotting the series against Zimbabwe next year if Mugabe remained in power.
"It is something we are going to have to talk about," said Strauss.
"We have felt in the past that there have been great opportunities for the government to show the strength of feeling that there is among the population as a whole. There was a feeling that the last tour to Zimbabwe should not have gone ahead, and if it comes around again, we will have to look at it.
"Our previous two tours to Zimbabwe were difficult occasions in which players were left in the lurch by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and the government. It has come down to personal preferences and there have been some tough decisions made. I think when we come round to the issue again, we all hope that the political situation in Zimbabwe is very different."
Peter Hain, who spearheaded the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign, which forced the cancellation of the 1970 cricket tour of England by South Africa, came out strongly in support of Tutu's boycott call.
"Mugabe has targeted cricketers and other sports people who have criticised his policies and if the cricket tour went ahead, he would claim a victory," said Hain.
"As we saw three decades ago in the anti-apartheid struggle, sports boycotts can strike blows against tyrannies where other means either fail or are unavailable.
"As evidence daily emerges that Mugabe is determined to rig the June 27 election by brutal violence against anyone or any community suspected to be voting against him, it would be grotesque to proceed with the cricket tour. It should be called off right now, as an act of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe," Hain continued.
Zimbabwe participated in the South African MTN and Standard Bank competitions in the 2007/2008 season, and was expected to take part in all three domestic competitions in the coming season. - Sapa