Craig Ervine to captain Zimbabwe in Bangladesh with Sean Williams expecting first child

Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams will miss the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka on February 22 to be with his family for the birth of his first child. In his absence, Craig Ervine will lead the 15-member squad which has also been shorn of two key fast bowlers.

Kyle Jarvis is unavailable due to a lower-back problem that he picked up playing the first Test against Sri Lanka in January while Tendai Chatara continues his recovery from a bicep injury. As a result, Zimbabwe have recalled Chris Mpofu, whose last game of Test cricket was the four-day pink-ball match against South Africa in December 2017.

Mpofu has been more of a regular presence for Zimbabwe in limited-overs cricket and his return to the longer format may have been helped by his performances in the Logan Cup. The 34-year old picked up 11 for 54 in a very tight first-class game against Mid West Rhinos late last month. He is the only addition to the squad that lost the recent two-match home series to Sri Lanka. Opening batsman Kevin Kasuza, who suffered concussion after being hit in the head in both Tests, kept his place.

Zimbabwe will leave for Dhaka on Friday. Their tour kicks off with a two-day practice game against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI which leads into the first Test. Then, they play three ODIs on March 1, 3 and 6 for which Williams is expected to be available. The tour ends with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh meeting in two T20Is on March 9 and 11 in Dhaka.

Zimbabwe Test squad: Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva (wk), Craig Ervine (captain), Kevin Kasuza, Timycen Maruma, Prince Masvaure, Christopher Mpofu, Brian Mudzinganyama, Carl Mumba, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Ainsley Ndlovu, Victor Nyauchi, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano, Charlton Tshuma