Zimbabwe Cricket assures players’ salaries by July 25

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has assured to pay the players their outstanding salaries by July 25 – a month after the deadline set by the players expired. The players threatened to “review their availability” if the payments were not made within the initial deadline and it threatened to derail the recent Twenty20 tri-series that Zimbabwe hosted and featured Australia and Pakistan.

Vince van der Bijl, ZC’s newly appointed consultant, said in a letter to the players that the board was committed to pay all the outstanding salaries, including those of June and July, by the end of July. In the letter, the ZC also called the timeline as “conservative” though reiterated that it was “hopeful” to make the payments soon.

ZC apparently mismanaged a $6 million loan

It was reported last month that the Zimbabwe cricket board also expected to receive their next payout from the International Cricket Council (ICC) this month. Earlier in July, the international cricket body gave a lifeline to ZC by agreeing to provide the struggling board a “package of measures” to pay off its debt.

It was also learned in 2014 that the ZC apparently mismanaged a $6 million loan from the ICC to improve its state of affairs by enriching a bank.

However, not all of the revolting players were convinced with the ZC’s assurances and also thought it was “unacceptable”, ESPNcricinfo said.

Titan Law, which legally represents the Zimbabwean players, said that they brought the players’ association, which was disbanded in 2015, back and it is likely to seek affiliation from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations.

While Zimbabwe have been witnessing financial crisis off the ground, on it too, its performance has been pathetic. The African side has already failed to make it to the ICC World Cup 2019, the first time since their debut in 1983, after fumbling in the qualifying tournament held in their own backyard earlier this year.

They also failed to win a single match in the tri-series played at home recently and were also facing a 0-5 loss against Pakistan in the recent ODI series in Bulawayo.

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