After 24 days in dispute with their national body, most of the striking Zimbabwe professional cricketers agreed on Monday to make themselves available for selection and return to practice.
They will start on Wednesday, in time for several of them to become available for the final match on Thursday against touring Sri Lanka in the one-day international series.
In return, the governing Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) is to organise an independent arbitrator to examine all the issues, including the sacking of Heath Streak as national captain, the make-up of the national selection panel, and a mutually acceptable system for dealing with player grievances.
The dispute goes back to April 2 when Streak demanded changes to the selection panel. ZCU directors reacted angrily to this and ”accepted his resignation” — an effective sacking.
The other players demanded his reinstatement and withdrew their services, resulting in Zimbabwe being forced to field an inferior team, one that has spectacularly failed to provide serious opposition to Sri Lanka.
On Sunday the team was bundled out for 35 runs, a record low for one-day internationals.
The ZCU said in a statement: ”Agreement has been reached upon who the mediator will be and it is sincerely hoped that the impasse will be resolved on this basis, hopefully by the end of tomorrow.”
That arbitrator will be Harare businessman Much Masunda, who runs an organisation that deals with disputes. Both sides hope he can come up with solutions inside a single day’s discussions.
The agreement — it is not yet a settlement — may not cover all of the 15 players who withdrew their services after unsuccessfully demanding Streak’s reinstatement and the removal of two selectors.
These are still covered by the ZCU ultimatum that warns that action will be taken unless they return to practice inside 21 days — the deadline being May 7.
The statement added: ”The most recent discussions with Heath Streak have indicated that there is every hope of a speedy and amicable resolution of the problem and an assurance has been received from Heath Streak that the players are anxious to come back into the fold as soon as possible, as is the desire of the ZCU.”
The agreement was unexpected, as it was negotiated ahead of a players’ meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Their lawyer, Chris Venturas, was not available for comment. — Sapa-AP
Stakes are high in Zim cricket crisis