Non-centrally contracted Zimbabwe players may boycott Bangladesh series over unsatisfactory payment.
A host of Zimbabwe cricketers are preparing to boycott the start of the visit of Bangladesh after failing to receive satisfactory payments from their board, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Players who do not have central contracts with Zimbabwe Cricket may refuse to play in the warm-up matches before the Test series against the Bangladeshis starts on April 17.
Although most of those in the squad do have central contracts they are expected to support their teammates who do not, after winter contracts were turned down in favour of a pay-per-play system.
The fringe players in the Zimbabwe squad were contracted to their franchises and paid for international matches through grants from ZC.
However, that payment plan finished on March 31 and it left those Zimbabweans without central contracts unsure of where their next pay packet would be coming from.
This led to many of them securing stable contracts in the English County Championship, but they would have to forego those deals to play in the Bangladesh series.
Therefore they want to be given winter contracts by ZC so that they can ensure the same steady income they would have enjoyed in England, which as yet has not been offered.
As a result the Zimbabwe squad is planning to boycott the warm-up matches before the Test series begins and many players have not shown up for training.
If the cricketers with club commitments abroad decide to pull out of the national squad then it would leave the Zimbabwean coaching staff with just 15 centrally contracted players to choose from. The promises of a shake-up to the team after defeat in the West Indies would therefore not be possible.
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