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ALLROUNDER Sean Williams has reached an understanding with Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) and agreed to sign a contract with the board.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that Williams, who had made himself unavailable to play the first Test against Pakistan because of the ongoing payments issue, was satisfied with an offer made to him on Thursday and will commit to the country in future.
Williams told sources close to the team he never planned on turning his back on Zimbabwe and that people had misunderstood his reasons for not playing the first Test. Williams was not on a central contract but a lower-grade one and reportedly had an issue with the exact amount, rather than the non-payment. He is also believed to have secured an offer in the BPL, where many of his team-mates including Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura already play.
The rest of the Zimbabwe players are expected to receive some money before the second Test against Pakistan, as ZC seeks to prevent the threatened boycott. The newly-formed players’ union, of which Williams is a member, remained adamant it would strike if they were not paid their outstanding dues, which include July and August salaries.
Though the players had said before the first Test that if, “even one of us doesn’t want to play, we will all not play,” they allowed Williams to act unilaterally because the rest of the group agreed to take ZC’s word they would be paid. The board has introduced drastic cost-cutting measures, including moving the second Test from Bulawayo to Harare, to be able to foot the bill.
Williams’ availability will not guarantee him a place in the starting XI, though he was likely to have played the first match. He is a regular fixture in Zimbabwe’s limited-overs side but has only played one Test and the performance of the team in this match may make it difficult to make room for him.
With all the batsmen getting starts in Harare, and Brendan Taylor likely to replace Richmond Mutambami after returning from paternity leave, Williams would have been considered in the place of one of Malcolm Waller, Sikandar Raza or Prosper Utseya. The first two batted well while Utseya had a decent return with the ball. It could give Zimbabwe a welcome selection conundrum for the second Test.
Meanwhile, an underprepared pitch is the biggest concern ahead of the second Test between Zimbabwe and Pakistan starting tomorrow in Harare. The groundsmen have just two-and-a-half days after the first Test to prepare the surface after being informed last Thursday that the fixture would be moved from Bulawayo, and both Hamilton Masakadza and Misbah-ul-Haq expect a tough time in the middle.
“It’s going to get a lot worse, a lot quicker,” said Masakadza, who stood in as captain in the first Test and has played most of his domestic cricket at Harare Sports Club. “It’s going to be tough for the groundsman with such a short turnaround and the spinners will definitely come into play much more in the second innings.”
Turn was always predicted as a factor for the second Test, which was due to be played at Bulawayo’s Queens Club, a venue known for its flat, dry strip. However, Zimbabwe Cricket announced the match would be moved to Harare because Queens was “not in a condition to host a Test,” but ESPNcricinfo has learned the change in venue was actually a cost-cutting measure. Cash-strapped ZC will save more than $50,000 in travel and hotel costs by playing the entire series of two Twenty20s, three ODIs and two Tests in Harare.
The strip being readied for the second Test is the one on the extreme right, when looking at the field from the clubhouse end of the ground. It was not used this summer and staff had begun rolling it during the ODIs against Pakistan in preparation for the domestic season.
Grant Flower, the Zimbabwe batting consultant, could not recall playing any international cricket on that pitch but said he had seen it in use during the domestic twenty-over competition some time ago. While he thought the first-Test pitch “played very well,” he was also concerned about what the second one would do. “We know they will have something ready for us, we just don’t know what to expect.”-Cricinfo.
Online Reporter