Zimbabwe’s Craig Ervine has decided to play cricket in England this summer after turning down his latest contract offer from the national board.
The leading run-scorer for Zimbabwe during their recent tour of the West Indies, Craig Ervine, will not travel with the squad to face Bangladesh after turning down his winter contract.
Ervine was one of a number of Zimbabwean cricketers who were disillusioned with the contract offer given to them for the winter months in the country and has opted to play domestically in England instead.
Some players in the national side had threatened to boycott the tour with the Bangladeshis after they believed non-centrally contracted players were being given an unfair deal by Zimbabwe Cricket.
However that threat has now been averted after eight players signed winter contracts with the side, but Ervine is the first to turn down the offer.
Two other Zimbabweans, Sean Williams and Sikander Raza, are still in discussions with the board over their contracts and it is unknown if they will join the batsman in walking away from the deal.
The 31-year-old’s brother, Sean Ervine, has already turned his back on Zimbabwe Cricket after disputes over poor pay packets and has sought stability and security in the UK.
Financial uncertainty is still a huge concern for cricketers in Zimbabwe, despite the nation being allowed to play Test matches again after exile from 2011 onwards.
Ervine has played four Test matches for his country since their comeback two years ago and has scored 174 runs at an average on 29.00.
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