ZIMBABWE VS WINDIES 2ND TEST

Cashflow issue won't affect performance, assures Cremer

by Tristan Holme • Last updated on

Zimbabwe's players learnt earlier this week that they would not be paid their October salaries in full. © Getty

Captain Graeme Cremer does not expect Zimbabwe Cricket's latest cashflow problems to affect his team's performances in the second Test against the West Indies, which starts in Bulawayo on Sunday (October 29).

Zimbabwe's players learnt on Wednesday, the day after they had succumbed to a 117-run defeat in the first Test, that they would not be paid their October salaries in full. In a short memo seen by Cricbuzz, ZC's human resources head Nesta Vaki informed all employees that "ZC is currently having cashflow challenges due to some circumstances beyond its control. Consequently, employees will be paid half of their October 2017 salaries at the end of October and ZC will do its best to rectify the situation by end of November 2017."

While the idea of a Test nation failing to pay its players on time seems absurd, it is nothing new for Zimbabwe's players. While those with national contracts have generally received their monthly salaries on time, match fees have often been months, or even years, late.

While the appointment of former ICC chief financial officer Faisal Hasnain as ZC managing director earlier this year has created confidence that ZC's finances are in better hands, Cricbuzz understands that the organisation is still $19m in debt - the same amount as midway through last year. Beating the high-interest loans taken out by previous ZC administrations has proven difficult to beat, particularly with ZC spending significant money to lure Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis back from English county cricket.

"We know the position ZC is in, and the cashflow problem. It won't affect the performance," Cremer said on Saturday. "It's not like guys won't get their money, it's just one of those things. It's a tough environment, but we know with Faisal that we'll get through that. It won't really affect us.

"It can be a challenge, but as Zimbabweans we've been through quite a lot. We're used to dealing with these sorts of things, and that's where I respect our team very much. In the way that guys will still pitch up, still wanting to do well for the country, no matter what issues we're having in our economy or in Zimbabwe cricket as a whole."

That being the case, Cremer is clear about where Zimbabwe need to improve after they were bowled out for 159 in the first innings of the first Test. "That first innings with the bat is so crucial in Test cricket," he said. "If you don't do well in that first innings, you're always chasing the game. So we're hoping to rectify that. To win a Test match, you've probably got to score 600 runs in your two innings, so hopefully we'll do that and won't leave too much for our second innings with the bat."

Although coach Heath Streak said that Zimbabwe have "a couple of niggles that we're managing", he promised an unchanged side so long as everyone turned up fit on Sunday. He also didn't expect any radical change to their tactics - or to the conditions.

Rain returned to Bulawayo late in the week, sending the temperatures plummeting from the high 30s to the mid-teens, but it is expected to clear for the match before the mercury rises again next week.

"It's very unseasonal to get this cold, guti (drizzle) type weather," said Streak, whose family farm is about 20km outside of Bulawayo. "Normally October is quite hot, with thunderstorms. We'll have to see, but the forecast from Monday onward is improving. If the wicket gets a bit of sun on it, I think we'll see it continue to dust up. It's dry now, and very similar (to the pitch from the first Test)."

© Cricbuzz

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