ot a popular choice among the players who felt he was too close to the board, and in October all members of the national squad signed a letter to Zimbabwe Cricket demanding Simmons’s reinstatement.
Curran’s appointment was confirmed by the new interim executive but it is claimed that last week he attempted to convince some players that the deal on offer was a good one, despite their stated reluctance to agree to the terms on offer.
Meanwhile, the media has been full of stories claiming the players had all signed new contracts, which apparently came from a senior board official who briefed local journalists last Friday.
“Right now I can confirm about 16 have already taken the contracts and the rest have indicated they would do so by Monday,” the official announced. Contradictory developments haves thrown into doubt threats by the disgruntled players to drag Zimbabwe Cricket to court over money they claimed they were owed in match fees and allowances since September.
Reports also emerged that Zimbabwe Cricket had last week paid out over $12 billion for overdue match fees and allowances and that most of the 35 striking players had already accepted the cheques.
The organisation made a loss of more than $2 billion in the 2004-2005 season from a profit of $10 billion in the previous year, and the latest round of payments will leave it on its knees. It has been further crippled by the Outside Broadcast van, which was bought for close to -1 million from England last year, but which lies largely unused due to Zimbabwe’s non-participation in Test matches.- Own correspondent, ZimOnline
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News