In her statement reacting to the fall of Robert Mugabe, the prime minister referred to Britain as “Zimbabwe’s oldest friend”. An interesting choice of words, really, considering how few friendships are founded on the basis of white supremacy, land theft, mineral plunder and a century of colonial rule. But that’s mates for 
you – always taking liberties!

In another sense, however, it rather encapsulated this country’s complex relationship with its former vassal state: the problem lovechild that it could never completely embrace, and never completely spurn. And perhaps nowhere has that dynamic been more vividly evident than in cricket.

And so it has remained ever since, even as the country’s fortunes have improved in recent years. The rest of the cricketing world moved on from Mugabe long ago: by the time Australia visit next summer, every single Test nation, including Afghanistan and Ireland, will have toured or hosted Zimbabwe in the last three years. Every nation except one. For England, and England alone, Zimbabwe remains untouchable.

Of course, there are legitimate reasons for this. Mugabe’s poisonous legacy, while fading, is still evident. Andy Flower, who paid for his stand against Mugabe with his international career, was England’s coach for five years and remains at the ECB. Gary Ballance’s father was a Zimbabwean tobacco farmer whose land was forcibly requisitioned by the Mugabe regime.

The dethroning of Mugabe removes the single biggest obstacle to a rapprochement, and yet still you sense it will not be enough. Talking to insiders at the ECB, you sense very little appetite for a resumption in relations, not even a Lions or under 19 tour. The introduction of the World Test League Championship in 2019, from which Zimbabwe will be excluded, provides a handy pretext for continued disengagement. And besides, it is not exactly as if the ECB’s switchboards are lighting up with furious English cricket fans desperate for a series against Zimbabwe. The policy of “acceptable non-compliance” – a fancy term for sticking your fingers in your ears – looks to be holding firm.

Imagine the transformative effect an England tour could have on Zimbabwean cricket. For now, though, it remains a pipe dream, one that, in the face of shifting facts and a shifting climate, increasingly feels like a personal slight rather than anything more considered: a scar that refuses to close over, an indelible grudge that not even the extraordinary fall of Mugabe will be able to displace.