No pay for cricketers as ICC has not released funds as war continues

The drama at Zimbabwe Cricket has reached a new level.

A memo sent to staff signed by Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Manager Joyce Kwashira, says the International Cricket Council has not released funds for June salaries meaning players have not been paid yet. The authenticity of the memo has been confirmed by four sources. This will be the first time that players will miss their salary date since the ICC started managing the ZC’s funding in 2018.

With the recent suspension of the ZC board by the Sports and Recreation Commission, there has been no work really this week with very few employees clocking in. The SRC says that the suspended board is behind this and has reported them to the police.

The suspended board however says there were police officers placed at the premises by SRC from the beginning of the week and has created a hostile working environment for employees.

Some quarters have revealed that captain Hamilton Masakadza has written to interim board chair Dave Ellman-Brown while players have expressed concern about their own welfare and the state of the game in Zimbabwe. They are also keen on what the ICC has to say on the matter.

The team is currently in Ireland for three ODIs and three T20Is kicking off tomorrow.

It remains to be seen what, if any bearing, this has on the women’s squad which is meant to travel to Ireland as well before taking part in the Global T20 World Cup Qualifier.

The only statement released by the ICC so far is that sent to suspended board chair Tavengwa Mukhuhlani by the world governing body’s CEO warning that perceived government interference would result in suspension and cutting off funding for Zimbabwe.

At this stage, the ICC has not deemed this as interference.