Simmons claims players ill at ease with Curran

Phil Simmons: current players were coming to him for help © T&T Express

Former Zimbabwe coach Phil Simmons, who is now based in London, has said that current players are still coming to him for help despite the fact that he is no longer the national coach. He has also claimed that he is still pursuing Zimbabwe Cricket over money owed to him.

Simmons also said that several of the Zimbabwe side spoke to him when he briefly returned to Trinidad to watch the last two matches in the recent series which West Indies won 5-0.

"They were coming to me asking for help," he said. "I have been watching the games and most of the players were having problems but no one told them why they were having those problems. They were not being told simple things and when they came to me I had no problem doing that." Those comments were an implied criticism of Kevin Curran, who was controversially brought in by ZC to replace Simmons.

And as for the future, Simmons was clear. "They need to get back all those players who left. The current players are willing but they need to have experienced players around them. They need people they can look up to."

Simmons was sacked by the board last year and, he claims, has not been paid all he is owed. "Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) haven't paid me since November," he told Zimbabwe's new Sportsonline website. "Of course I still want my money."

Simmons is not alone in being out of pocket. A number of former players - including Tatenda Taibu, Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut - have still to be paid match fees totaling around $200,000 from nine months ago.