Taibu walks out on Takashinga

Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe's captain, has ended his 11-year relationship with Takashinga and is looking for a new club side. He joined in 1993 when he was still at Chipembere Primary School in Highfield.

Taibu made up his mind before last month's Champions Trophy. "It was a very difficult decision for me to make but I felt that I needed to move to a club with very few, if any, players in the national team," he told the Daily Herald. "At the moment there are about seven Takashinga players in the national team and so I decided to join a smaller club where I can help the youngsters there to progress in their cricket."

Three clubs - Uprising, Old Georgians and Harare Sports Club - are vying to sign him. "I have already spoken to these clubs," he admitted. "This week I will be attending their training sessions to see how they do it and also have a look at their facilities."

His decision to move might not be as straightforward as it seems. Taibu admitted that there were problems - he described them as minor - with Takashinga but stressed the club "had become my second home and it was hard leaving".

But Takashinga has strong political affiliations and its influence with the selectors is considerable - Steven Mangongo, until recently the chief selector, is a senior member - and it is rumoured to have close links with the ruling Zanu-PF party. Its players have been sent home from development clinics for turning up in Zanu-PF T-shirts and bandanas, and one former club member said; "The ZCU makes them a powerful club, because they want them to be powerful. They have some real radicals and that suits some people at the ZCU down to the ground.

"Every time they play against white or Indian clubs there are problems. There are always racial things said, and arguments on the field. Except when Taibu and [Stuart] Matsikenyeri play, then they keep quiet." Without the calming influence of Taibu, things are likely to get worse.