Showing concern about the development and future of cricket in Zimbabwe, top cricketers of Country have offered to play for free despite not having paid for previous two months.
The cricketers have expressed their willingness to keep the game alive in the country, and desperation to compete in the upcoming World Twenty20 Qualifiers. The ICC had recently banned Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on grounds of government interference.
The women’s T20 qualifiers are slated to be held in August while the men’s qualifiers will be held in October.
As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, a senior cricketer said, “We will play for free. As long as we can ee the light at the end of the tunnel. Our next assignment is the qualifiers. We will play for free”.
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.
The suspension, though, does not bar them from competing in bilateral series and the ICC can even appoint match officials for bilateral series they host. However, without ICC funding, it will be difficult for them to host any series.
According to the FTP, Zimbabwe are to host Afghanistan in August and the West Indies in October and November before travelling to India for a three-match T20 series in January 2020.
Meanwhile, the interim committee running Zimbabwe Cricket has warned its employees to report for work on Thursday or face “legal and disciplinary” consequences.