Lawyers of ZCU and players resume talks

Lawyers representing the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the players sacked by the board have resumed talks, in an attempt to resolve the conflict that led to Zimbabwe's temporary loss of Test status. The AFP agency reports that Alwyn Pichanick, for the ZCU, and Chris Venturas, for the players, are in talks following an International Cricket Council directive instructing the Zimbabwean board to make another attempt to resolve the crisis.

The ICC gave the ZCU 14 days from June 30 to agree on a mechanism to solve the dispute, that began with the sacking of Heath Streak as captain.

If an agreement is not reached on the process within this timeframe, Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, announced that he and Percy Sonn, the vice-president, will make a ruling on the applicability of the ICC's own Disputes Resolution Process.

The ICC's legal advice is that this process can be applied in this case. This is a position not supported by the ZCU. Speaking after the ICC's Executive Board meeting last week, Mani said, "We recognise that this is a Zimbabwean dispute and our clear preference is to have it resolved in Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans."

"If there is no agreement on the process, the newly elected ICC Vice-President, Percy Sonn, and I will make a final decision on application of the ICC's Disputes Resolution Process after this 14-day period. The ZCU is firmly of the view that this system has no jurisdiction but the ICC's legal advice is clear in saying that it does."