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Liam Brickhill
Zimbabwe’s cricketers will play for free if needs be in order to keep cricket in the country alive.
“We will play for free,” a senior squad member confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. “As long as we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our next assignment is the qualifiers. We will play for free.”
The focus for Zimbabwe’s cricketers remains participation at the men’s and women’s T20 qualifying tournaments, although they have been barred from taking part in those events under the terms of their suspension from the ICC. Four members of the national women’s team were also dropped from the Global Development Squad. But their exclusion does not extend to all cricket.
Zimbabwe are still technically able to play in bilateral series while under suspension. It is understood that the ICC will still appoint match officials for bilateral series that Zimbabwe host. But at the moment that would also likely mean players playing for free, and ZC is in any case unable to host incoming tours without ICC funding. The Sports and Recreation Commission, who have put an interim committee in place to run cricket in the country, have said there is a contingency plan to deal with player welfare while Zimbabwe are under suspension, but the details of this plan have not apparently been communicated to the players.
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Neither of the two senior national squads have been paid in the last two months, and the men were not paid match fees during their recent tour of Netherlands and Ireland.
It appears increasingly unlikely that Zimbabwe will be able to take part in the women’s T20 qualifiers in August, or the men’s qualifiers in October. Zimbabwe were to have hosted Afghanistan in August, before travelling to Bangladesh for the tri-series in September. The Future Tours Programme suggests that Zimbabwe would then host West Indies for a Test and five ODIs in October and November, before travelling to India for three T20Is in January next year. Zimbabwe have two Tests against Sri Lanka scheduled straight afterwards, before a trip to Bangladesh in March and a historic first Test match against Ireland in Zimbabwe in April.
But while these fixtures have not been cancelled outright, in reality there is no chance whatsoever of Zimbabwe hosting any cricket while under suspension, even if players aren’t paid. ZC is entirely reliant on ICC funding to host incoming cricket tours, which – apart from Indian visits – could end up as loss-making enterprises.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo