Board try to entice Streak back into the fold

Heath Streak: refused offer © Getty Images

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union this week made a last-ditch bid to lure Heath Streak back into the fold by offering him a new contract, according to a report in the Zimbabwe Independent. Streak is understood to have rejected the approach.

The ZCU claimed that it was in negotiations with several of the rebel players, but it declined to name names, and none of the cricketers we spoke to had been contacted.

The Independent quotes a source close to the dispute as saying that the ZCU was trying to lure Streak in the belief that if he came back then others would follow. But given that Streak has serious issues with several senior members of the ZCU, it seems highly unlikely he would consider any such offer. The source added that the proposed contract would have "nailed and fixed" Streak.

Stuart Carlisle, one of the rebels, said that the ZCU's activities had to be challenged, adding that "until this cancer is removed none of the senior rebels will return."