Uneasy Williams to lead Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's side for the Under-19 World Cup has been named, but some question marks remain whether all those chosen will actually take part in the light of last week's government takeover of the board.

Sean Williams, the captain, is known to have come under pressure not to participate and while Cricinfo has learned that he joined the squad on Tuesday, he is thought to have serious reservations. His father was against his participation. He said: "My opinion is that he should not go because of the latest developments where Peter Chingoka was appointed interim executive chairman. It is up to Sean to decide but i have made my position clear to him".

There are five other players with first-class experience - Kudakwashe Samunderu, Friday Kasteni, Chamunorwa Chibhabha and Ian Nicolson, while legspinner Graeme Cremer has until recently been in the Test side.

Samunderu and Chibhabha both formed the core of the Mashonaland top-order batting as the province successfully defended the Logan Cup for sixth time in a row.

Chibhabha played for Zimbabwe A against Bangladesh A in March 2005 and excelled with bat and ball in the four-day matches and was the best batsman for Zimbabwe second-string side in the limited-overs matches. He was part of the Zimbabwe A side which took on Pakistan in May in two four-day matches and three one-dayers, and went on to make his ODI debut against New Zealand in August, but failed to make an immediate impact as he was dismissed for a three-ball duck.

Nicolson led the Midlands bowling attack with Anthony Ireland while Kasteni, who also turned out for Midlands, marked his arrival in first-class cricket with a well-crafted unbeaten century against Matabeleland at Kwekwe Sports Club.

Walter Chawaguta, who guided Zimbabwe to the last eight of at last juniors World Cup played in Bangladesh in 2004, remains in charge, together with manager Dilip Chouhan.

Only four of the players have been offered contracts by Zimbabwe Cricket and the rest are schoolboys, so there should be no issue of another mass player-boycott. The players are not paid to take part in the World Cup, only receiving allowances for phone calls and laundry.

Zimbabwe squad Sean Williams (capt), Roland Benade, Gary Balance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer, Ryan Higgins, Friday Kasteni, Tarisai Mahlunge, Keagan Meth, Taurai Muzarabani, Ian Nicolson, Kudakwashe Samunderu, Glen Querl, Prince Masvaure.