Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has announced the 16-member squad for the upcoming home Test series against West Indies, starting February 04 at Queens S?ports Club in Bulawayo.

Regular captain Sean Williams will be unavailable for the red-ball battle as he recovers from a fractured finger. In Williams’ absence, experienced campaigner Craig Ervine, playing his? first Test in three years, will captain the side

Further, the hosts will also be without the all-rounder duo of Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl because of their franchise commitments overseas. Likewise, fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are also not in the Tes??t outfit due to their respective injuries.

Though the Zimbabwean team will boost by the presence of Gary Ballance in the squad. The former England batter recently made his ODI debut in the se??ries against Ireland. Ballance, who has played 23 Tests fo?r England with four hundreds, returned to Zimbabwe after being released by Yorkshire last year.

The absence of many first-choice players has opened the doors for the newcomers, as there are many uncapped players in the 16-man outfit. The likes of Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Tanunurwa Makoni have all been rewarded for their domestic form.

“Gary Ballance has been named in Zimbabwe’s squad for their two-match Test series against the West Indies that gets underway at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Saturday. The left-handed batter recently committed to playing for his country of birth after he had previously featured in 23 Tests for England, scoring 1 498 runs with four centuries and seven fifties at an average of 37.45. In the absence of regular captain Sean Williams who is recovering from a fractured finger, Craig Ervine will lead Zimbabwe in the series,” said Zimbabwe Cricket in an official release.

Zimbabwe Squad for West Indies Tests:

Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (captain), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masa?kadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ng??arava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga

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Zimbabwe Cricket, on Wednesday, announced their 15-member men’s squad for the upcoming home T20I series against Ireland, starting later this month.

Garry Balance, the former England batter, who recently s??igned a two-year deal with Zimbabwe Cricket, has been included in the outfit. Balance?, who played 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for England, signed the contract with Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, in December last year following his release from county cricket side Yorkshire.

The big omission, however, is of star all-rounder Sikandar Raza. The Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international player, who was named in the nominee list of ICC’s cricketer of the year, has been granted permission to play in the UAE’s ILT20, where he will represent Dubai Capitals.

“Star all-rounder Sikandar Raza โ€?who is in the running for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year awards โ€?will not feature in the series against Ireland after Zimbabwe Cricket granted him the permission to play franchise cricket elsewhere,” said Zimbabwe Cricket in an official release.

Further in the missing list are frontline pacer Blessing Muzarabani, wicketkeeper-batter Regis Chakabva, and batter Milton Shumba. Though, the likes of Innocent Kaia, Tadiwanashe Marumani, and Victor Nyauchi have returned to the squad.

Captain Craig Ervine will continue to lead the side, which has some familiar faces in the form of Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava. Notably, the three T20Is will be played o??n January 12, 14 and 15 at Harare Sports Club.

Last month, Ireland had also announced their squad, giving former rugby player and brother of Mark Adair, Ross, his maiden call-up.

Zimbabwe’s T20I squad for the home series against Ireland:

Craig Ervine (capt), Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, T??ony Munyonga, Ric??hard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams.

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Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has announced Sean Williams as their new Test cricket team captain while Chamu Chibh??abha will lead the limited-overs side. ZC said that the appointments were recommended by former captain and current director of cricket, Hamilton Masakadza.

BREAKING: @ZimCricketv has named Sean Williams as substantive Test captain, while Chamu Chibhabha will lead the ODI and T20I sides as interim skipper. We wish both of them all the best in their new roles #NewCaptains #Congratulations ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ@sean14williams @chamulaw pic.twitter.com/XwOIZcUlPA

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) January 7, 2020

“The role of captain is an honor and a responsibility which Sean and Chamu thoroughly deserve, both of them being exceptional players and great servants of our game over the years,” said Masakadza.

“I am delighted that they have accepted their new roles, and I extend my congratulations to them and wish them all the best as they help to take Zimbabwe to the next level,” added Masakadza.

Williams has played 179 international matches, whereas Chibhabha has 139 international games to his name. Chibhabha’s last appearance for his side came in 2018 in a T20 match against South Africa.

ZC also announced a two-match Test series agai??nst Sri Lanka to be played in Harare this month. The opening Test is scheduled from 19-23 January and the last game from 27-31 January. This will be their first assignment since reinstatement as an ICC member back in October 201??9.

“Sri Lanka are always a very competitive team who have been playing well and I am looking forward to the Test series,” said Zimbabwe’s head coach Lalchand Rajput.

“We know our home conditions better; our players are getting match-fit and enjoying some game time. So all we have to do is to get in the middle and perform,” he said. “We have not had much game time, so the players will be very keen and eager to seize this opportunity and do well,” Rajput added.

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Zimbabwe have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) with immediate effect. ICC funding to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has been frozen, and the representative teams from Zimbabwe will not be allowed to participate in any ICC events while under suspension, making Zimbabwe’s participation in the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in August and Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in October highly unlikely.

After several rounds of meetings in London this week, ICC’s board of members unanimously decided that ZC was in breach of Article 2.4 (c) and (d) of the ICC Constitution, and that the actions of the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) in suspending the board in June constituted government interference in ZC’s affairs.

“We do not take the decision to suspend a Member lightly, but we must keep our sport free from political interference,” ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar said. “What has happened in Zimbabwe is a serious breach of the ICC Constitution and we cannot allow it to continue unchecked.”

This is for the first time that a Full Me??mber team has been suspended from partaking in any form of cricket.

Many former and current cricketers have expressed disappointment and anger over the ICC’s decision.

The African team has a forgettable history of events. While Zimbabwe’s Test cricket status was suspended in 2004 following the withdrawal of players due to then-captain Heath Streak’s sacking, the team’s ban was lifted in 2005, when they played eight Tests.

However, they failed to play a single Test match until 2011 desp??ite being eligible to do so.

Recently, too, there?? has not been many positives to take into for Zimbabwe after the team, then led by Graeme Cremer, failed to qualify for the recently-concluded ICC Cricket Wor?ld Cup 2019.

Here’s how Sikandar Raza, Ravichandran Ashwin and others reacted on Twitter:

How one decision has made a team , strangers
How one decision has made so many people unemployed
How one decision effect so many families
How one decision has ended so many careers
Certainly not how I wanted to say goodbye to international cricket. @ICC pic.twitter.com/lEW02Qakwx

— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) July 18, 2019

Extremely heart breaking news for all Zim cricketers and their fans, reading the tweets of @SRazaB24 just shows the agony of cricketers and how their lifeโ€™s have been taken away from them. I pray that the lovely cricket nation returns to its glory asap! #ZimbabweCricket

— Ashwin ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2019

@ICC It's heartbreaking to hear your verdict and suspend cricket in Zimbabwe. The @ZimbabweSrc has no government back round yet our Chairman is an MP? Hundred??s of honest people,players, support staff,ground staff totally devoted to ZC out of a job,just like that. ๐Ÿ’”

— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) July 18, 2019

โ€œThe ICC has directed that the elected Zimbabwe Cricket Board be reinstated to office within three months & progress in this respect will be considered again at the October Board meetingโ€?This is an appalling decision @ICC – you are letting those who have destroyed cricket back.

— David Coltart (@DavidColtart) July 18, 2019

//twitter.com/malcolmpjarvis/?status/1151??918690071404545

Incredibly disappointed with ICC's decision to suspend Zimbabwe. Particularly considering interim measures taken and that Zim are far from the only board in which political interference is commonplace. Losing test nations at a time where they should be growing the game…

— Tasneem-Summer Khan (@tasneemsummerk) July 18, 2019

It's the women who suffer FIRST and suffer the MOST. We are living this reality now. We just want to play the sport we love. In peace. For Zimbabwe. You see what the @ZimGemsOfficial are doing, making Zimbabwe smile, that's all we wanted to do too. pic.twitter.com/Yx9bt1bRMM

— Mary-Anne Musonda ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ผ (@Mutsa13) July 18, 2019

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