Williams backtracks once again

Sean Williams, the former Zimbabwe Under-19 captain, has once again backtracked on his decision to turn away from Zimbabwe by making himself available for their series against Sri Lanka.

Two weeks ago Williams ended a long period of speculation by withdrawing himself from the series, stating he was frustrated by "practice without matches" and blaming Zimbabwe Cricket for the lack of proper action on the pitch. He missed the training camp at the start of this season, as well as their tour to Canada and Kenya last month, as his corrugated career again hit the buffers.

But yet again he has made himself available, and was spotted at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo during Zimbabwe A's match against Sri Lanka at the weekend. He is expected to join the rest of the squad on Tuesday ahead of the first of five ODIs on Thursday.

This is not the first time Williams has made a stance before retracting it. After leading Zimbabwe in the Under-19 World Cup two years ago, there were rumours he was unhappy with the board and he subsequently turned down a central contract, allegedly to explore the possibility of playing in South Africa. Three months later, he was back for Zimbabwe.

With doubts hanging over the availability of former captain Tatenda Taibu ahead of the Sri Lanka series, and Zimbabwe's batting lacking experience, it is hard to imagine the Zimbabwe selectors ignoring Williams' experience.