Financial issues in Zimbabwean cricket resurface, domestic players go on strike

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) in a financial crisis once again

The seemingly endless dispute between cricketers and their respective boards over the issue of payment, especially in countries at the bottom rung of international cricket, resurfaced on Tuesday after Zimbabwe’s domestic cricketers refused to play in their domestic competition because of wages and contractual issues.

This is the second such incident in as many months, with the West Indies team cancelling their tour of India mid-way through the series due to a financial complication between the players, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players’ Association as recently as last month.

The players’ contracts were confirmed by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) only two days before the start of their domestic season, and the salaries given out ranged between $300 and $1500. But Zimbabwe’s stringent tax laws mean that players would receive only 50% of those amounts, and they would need to pay 40% of their medical expenses out of their own salary.

Lots of issues need resolving

In addition to the payment issue, there are several other differences that need to be resolved, the delay in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ZC and Zimbabwe Professional Cricket Association (ZPCA) being just one of those.

ZPCA official Eliah Zvimba said that the players would take the field only after a solution is arrived at.

"As long as our issues are not addressed there is no way that we can keep playing.This is the only language (ZC) understand,” he told AFP.

"We had September, we had October and now it's November. We were supposed to have discussed these issues without rushing, but that's not happened," he added.

The ZC officials, however, have now assured Zvimba of arranging a meeting with him to sort out all the issues, as a result of which Zvimba has urged the players to take the field.