Progress in Zimbabwe impasse

The impasse between the Zimbabwe board and the so-called "rebel" cricketers at last showed signs of reaching a resolution when six white players announced that they would train and play in the league matches this weekend. They reached this decision after entering into talks with a panel set up by Zimbabwe Cricket.

According to London's Daily Telegraph, the last round of talks were held in Harare on Wednesday (January 19), in which seven players were present - Heath Streak, Stuart Carlisle, Trevor Gripper, Craig Wishart, Andy Blignaut, Ray Price and Neil Ferreira. Six of them will play the league games, while Streak will miss out as he is in New Zealand playing for the World XI in the charity matches.

If these players do eventually agree to return to the national line-up, it wouldn't be a moment too soon for a team which is struggling to compete in international cricket. They were thrashed by Sri Lanka in May 2004, before being briefly barred from playing Test cricket. Upon their return, they were beaten 1-0 by Bangladesh, who finally achieved their first Test and series victory.