Zimbabwe pull out of Bangladesh T20I triangular after ICC suspencion
After the ICC declared Zimbabwe Cricket’s suspension, the national cricket body has cancelled a tour of Bangladesh for a triangular series which also had Afghanistan as the other participating nation. Now, the series is likely to be turned into a bilateral affair between Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
After the ICC decided to freeze the funds to Zimbabwe, the body has announced the cancellation of their domestic competitions in the coming season, or fulfil their Future Tours Programme (FTP) itinerary. As things stand, the tour to Bangladesh for a T20I tri-series that was to include Afghanistan in September also stands cancelled from Zimbabwe’s end.
"In all this, players and staff are bearing the brunt of the standoff and they might be forced to go for months or forever without their salaries and match fees. We would like to see our teams playing again as soon as possible and the ZC board is ready to cooperate with the SRC and other stakeholders to get Zimbabwe back to operating within the confines of the ICC statutes again,” ZC released in a statement.
However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board is also considerate of the situation and has suggested that Zimbabwe's participation in the tri-series is up to ZC. BCB has also announced that if Zimbabwe do not travel, which is confirmed now, the tri-series will turn into a bilateral affair between the two Asian countries.
Meanwhile, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) also requested the ICC to rethink solutions around reinstating Zimbabwe back into the international fold considering the number of livelihoods that are at risk.
"The Zimbabwean players have endured years of hardship under the previous board of ZC. 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," FICA executive chairman Tony Irish said.
"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."