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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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Players, Zimbabwe union sue each other DURBAN, April 17 (Reuters) The Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) and a group of 13 rebel players have issued writs against each other for alleged breach of contract. The ZCU said the group, which includes former captain Heath Streak, had breached their contracts after they failed to turn up, as ordered by the union, at a practice session in Harare on Friday. "They didn't arrive," ZCU managing director Vince Hogg told Reuters from Harare. "There is a process we need to follow on breach of contract and the next stage is letters to the individuals asking them to remedy their breach." The players, in turn, have accused the ZCU of being in breach of contract. "I feel we have enough to allege a fundamental breach of their contract," Chris Venturas, the players' lawyer, told Reuters from Harare. "It's an implicit term of a contract that you have a reasonable board of selectors and that they have a requisite proficiency. I believe there is consensus that that hasn't happened." Both parties have 21 days to remedy the alleged breaches, failing which, matters will go to court. Venturas said: "We want to settle this, we believe we can find a solution. It can still be fixed, they can still apply their minds to fixing the breaches." Hogg said: "The door is always open from us. It always has been, but there are no meetings scheduled at this stage." Earlier this week, the players threatened to quit over what they described as an "unprofessional manner of selection" that allows "interference of a non-sporting agenda." They have also alleged "racial and ethnic discrimination in the selection of the national team." On Thursday, the board attempted to defuse the affair by slimming down the selection panel from five to four but they retained Max Ebrahim, who the players oppose because he has not coached or played at first-class level. After their refusal to play in the series against Sri Lanka, which starts in Bulawayo on Tuesday, the ZCU was forced on Thursday to select a second-string squad. Only four of the squad, captained by 20-year-old wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu, played in Zimbabwe's last test and one-day side against Bangladesh in February and March. The crisis was sparked earlier this month by a ZCU announcement that Streak, a world-class bowler and the mainstay of the side, had quit all cricket. The board said he had resigned because he was unhappy with the composition of the selectors' panel, although Streak's father denied his son had quit. The 13 rebel players, who are all white, are Streak, Stuart Carlisle, Grant Flower, Craig Wishart, Andy Blignaut, Raymond Price, Gary Brent, Sean Ervine, Travis Friend, Barney Rogers, Trevor Gripper, Richard Sims and Neil Ferreria. |
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