Knee surgery rules Zimbabwe's Cremer out for eight weeks

Zimbabwe will be without their former captain Graeme Cremer for the series against South Africa and Bangladesh in September and October. The legspinner, recuperating from surgery on his right knee, will be out of action for at least eight weeks.

Cremer has had a history of trouble with his right knee, and the team physiotherapist said "conservative interventions" had failed to relive symptoms, making the surgery a necessity. The 31-year old last played for Zimbabwe during the World Cup qualifiers in March, where they fell short of securing their progress to next year's event. He was sacked as captain after that as part of a clear-out which saw the coach and much of the backroom staff lose their jobs. Since then, he, along with Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Sikander Raza, sat out the T20 tri-series against Australia and Pakistan, as well as the following ODI series owing to unpaid salaries.

Fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, who hasn't played since the start of July with a broken finger, is close to full fitness. In-form opening batsman Solomon Mire, who was forced to miss the ODIs against Pakistan after suffering an gluteal tear, is also back.

"Mire has now fully recovered from his ankle injury while his gluteal is now strong following successful rehab. He will be ready for our South Africa and Bangladesh tours," physiotherapist Anesu Mupotaringa said. "Jarvis is recovering very well following his second operation on his fractured thumb in Cape Town. He has now started doing light bowling and batting drills with the team and we hope he will be ready for South Africa."

Zimbabwe's first ODI against South Africa takes place on September 30. They play three ODIs and three T20Is against each other, before flying to Bangladesh to play three ODIs and two Tests.