adminJeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Cricket has settled its debts with players and officials with deposits made into bank accounts yesterday which ended a two-month long strike that also paralysed the domestic Twenty20 competition. Players confirmed yesterday that they had received their dues and measures were in place to get a Twenty20 tournament underway as soon as possible.
“I checked my account and the money was in there, some have not received deposits because banks credit balances at different times but by tomorrow we will all be sorted,” said one of the players in Harare.
The industrial action by members of the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers Association was in protest over salaries and wages dating as far back as August 2013.
On January 31, ZC and the ZPCA reached a compromise to resume cricket matches as the mother body gave itself a 10-day window to settle the debts owed.
The compromise resulted in officials arranging a Twenty20 tournament as well as an official national team training camp.
But when the funds did not show in the players’ accounts on Monday, they went on strike again and the Twenty20 tournament suffered a false start.
However, the impasse has now been resolved after ZC were bailed out by a US$3 million grant from the International Cricket Council.
ZC officials are now planning to have a three-day Twenty20 tournament which will feature six matches as part of their programme to select a final squad of 15 national team players for the World Cup Twenty20 tournament next month.
ZC will announce a training squad of 30 players plus an additional six payers to make up three teams of twelve which will play from Monday to Tuesday next week.
The ZC will then announce the final squad for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
Online Reporter