Reports | Sean Williams withdraws retirement letter, will continue playing for Zimbabwe

08/31/2021

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Zimbabwe Test Captain Sean Williams has reportedly withdrawn his retirement letter, which he had forwarded the board ahead of the white ball series against Ireland. The left-hand batsman will continue playing for Zimbabwe until his central contract completes, which ends in eight months’ time.

As per a Sunday Times report, Sean Williams has withdrawn his retirement letter which he had sent to the Zimbabwe Cricket ahead of the white-ball series against Ireland. Earlier, Williams stated that he has decided to quit international cricket after making himself available for the white-ball series against Ireland. However, the experienced left-hand batsman has not found a place in the playing XI for ZImbabwe in the first couple of games in the ongoing T20I series against Ireland.

Prior to his retirement decision, Williams confessed that he is unhappy with head coach Lalchand Rajput and his decisions. He added that the environment created by the coach in the team cannot be appreciated and he cannot continue playing for Zimbabwe in such conditions.

'I can't see a way forward under coach Rajput. The environment he has created in the team is bad. There is too much talking and backbiting which creates mistrust”, Sean Williams had said ahead of his retirement decision.

Zimbabwe head coach, Lalcahnd Rajput, has had a tough time since his appointment in 2018. Under him, the team has endured a rather poor record in white-ball cricket as they have won just four ODIs and eight T20Is from 29 matches in each format respectively. Along with the head coach, the staff members, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Douglas Hondo, and Shepherd Makunura are also likely to come under the scanner regarding the ongoing issues in the Zimbabwe cricket team.

In the ongoing five-match T20I series, Zimbabwe won the first match by three runs, before Ireland took the second game by seven wickets to draw level. Williams didn't feature in any of the two games.

The 34-year-old, who had debuted for Zimbabwe back in 2005, has represented the country in 14 Tests, 136 ODIs, and 47 T20Is till date.