Zimbabwe's players slam 'shocking' decision

Zimbabwe's players have described as "shocking" the decision by the government-appointed Zimbabwe Cricket interim board to suspend itself from Test cricket. The players said they were not informed about the decision prior to being announced.

Blessing Mahwire, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers Association, said the pull-out was a major setback. "It's a huge disappointment," he said. "I know that we don't have the numbers to play Test cricket at the moment, but I don't think we are better off not playing Tests."

Douglas Hondo, one of the older players in a relatively young team, said he felt sad, but added that he had made up his mind about his future in Zimbabwe cricket. "I was shocked. I only head about it on the internet. Test cricket is the highest level we can play, and right now guys are really don't know what to do."

Meanwhile, the players were not in mood to talk about anything but their money when they had a short meeting with their representative Clive Field today. "Nothing else was discussed," Field said. "The position was that we have to resolve the money issue first. The guys didn't was to talk about anything else. The feeling is that nothing can proceed unless things are resolved. That's what is critical at the moment."