BEYOND THE BOUNDARY WITH JAMES JONES

r their services in the upcoming Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
According to an article on Cricinfo this week, it was claimed that the ZC board was proposing to make match fees and bonus payments in Zimbabwean dollars, but with inflation at 7600% the local currency is now all but valueless.
This row is similar to that just before the World Cup in the Caribbean when the players, who no longer have legal representation, were threatened with removal from the World Cup squad if they refused to sign Zimbabwe dollar payment contracts. In the end, it is understood they were paid in US dollars, although they had to wait almost three months for their money to be paid.
ICC communications officer James Fitzgerald, told the Zimbabwe Times that each participating team is guaranteed US$250,000, even without striking a ball. This means a team like Zimbabwe, regarded as minnows in a pool comprising of heavyweights Australia and England, are entitled to the windfall, even if they fail to reach the next stage of the two-week competition.
The board is likely to cite local forex regulations that prohibit any payments being made in foreign currencies, even though this is increasingly flouted as local money becomes utterly useless. ZC itself has been fined on more than one occasion for breaches of the regulations. Although the Zimbabwe players turned out in the 20/20 warm up games, in which they were beaten by Pakistan and beat Scotland, there are rumours of a player strike should the players be paid in Zimbabwe dollars.