International futures of Taylor and Chigumbura hang in the balance

Posted by brmtaylor.com admin on June 04, 2008

Last week, it came to light that Taylor had come close to quitting Zimbabwe Cricket last month, with cricket clubs in England and the Netherlands both wanting his service. While that crisis was averted, and Taylor played in the Logan Cup, with the domestic season now officially over, Taylor again wants to leave for Europe.

Zimbabwe Cricket have a policy forbidding centrally-contracted players from playing overseas, however Tatenda Taibu was granted leave to play in the IPL. Last season, Taylor played in the Netherlands before returning straight into the Zimbabwe side. This year, Elton Chigumbura is playing for English club Eppleton, despite the board claiming that he was initially rested, along with Ray Price, Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu, for the Faithwear series (Price and Taibu subsequently returned to the Northerns team, Taylor did not).

Cricinfo now claims that officials insist Chigumbura is still in Zimbabwe receiving treatment for injury. JournalLive.co.uk seems to think otherwise, as do numerous other news sources. There is no doubt that Elton Chigumbura is playing in England.

Terry Duffin quit Zimbabwe Cricket last month to play club cricket abroad. It is believed that after the European summer is over, he will play in New Zealand.

ZC must relax their overseas playing policy. They cannot afford to lose Elton Chigumbura, who many believe is playing without ZC's consent, having just lost Gary Brent. It leaves a vulnerable pace attack. Not to mention the potential loss of Brendan Taylor, who adds a dynamic side to the Zimbabwean batting attack, and who has been a match winner on so many occasions.

There are no more domestic fixtures, there are no more international fixtures. There is no justifiable reason why these players should be staying in Zimbabwe not playing cricket! Please ZC, grant these players permission to play abroad!