Zimbabwe pull out of tri-series in Bangladesh

Zimbabwe's never-ending slump seems to be irreparable with the Zimbabwe Cricket Board (ZC) pulled the team out of the tri-series that also included Afghanistan as the third team which was to be held in Bangladesh in September.

This decision comes on the back of ICC's suspension of the nation as a full member of the board. That announcement would result in Zimbabwe not getting their usual funding and also the right to participate in ICC events. Zimbabwe will be ineligible to participate in both the men and women's teams' editions of the T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 scheduled for Scotland in August-September and Dubai in September-October respectively.

Regarding this matter, Zimbabwe issued a statement on Twitter reciprocating the same by saying that they won't be able to fulfil its Future Tours Programme and other international obligations. They will also not be able to pay salaries to their staff and players for months or forever.

SUSPENSION: @ZimCricketv board is ready to cooperate with @ZimbabweSrc and other stakeholders to get Zimbabwe back to operating within the confines of @ICC statutes again as well as to ensure the game is thriving, competitive and financially stable #SaveOurCricket #TogetherWeCan pic.twitter.com/pbb04t2MOV

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) July 19, 2019

Zimbabwe's suspension came up as a result of government interference in cricketing operations. Last month, the country's Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC) suspended the board due to mismanagement of funds. The committee had warned the Zimbabwe Cricket Board of suspension if the electoral process which led to Tavengwa Mukuhlani becoming chairman wasn't brought to an immediate halt.

"The Zimbabwean players have endured years of hardship under the previous board of ZC," FICA executive chairman Tony Irish said. "This has included many instances of non-payment and frequent breaches of their playing contracts. We have asked ICC to consider some mechanism to enable player contracts to be honoured despite the unfortunate suspension of the new board of ZC.

"Some of the domestic players in Zimbabwe live a hand-to-mouth existence, and there is an important 'human' element to this situation which we believe needs to be addressed."

Now that Zimbabwe have pulled out of the Bangladesh tri-series, the hosts and Afghanistan are likely to convert it into a bilateral series.