Injured Chigumbura turns up in England

Zimbabwe Cricket has been left looking rather silly after it emerged that Elton Chigumbura was playing club cricket in England at the same time it was insisting that he was undergoing treatment for an injury in Zimbabwe.

Questions were asked when Chigumbura failed to appear for defending champions Northerns in the Faithwear Cup, which started at the end of May. The official reason given was injury, but it subsequently emerged that three days before the competition started, he made his debut for Eppleton CC in the north of England.

His absence, and the attempt to hide it, suggests that he did not obtain approval from ZC before leaving the country. Under the central contracts signed by the national players, the board's permission is required before overseas deals can be signed, and all absences must be agreed in advance.

Cricinfo has learned that several players have been refused permission in recent months. Former captain Terry Duffin walked out in April after his request was declined, and Brendan Taylor is reported to have given a deadline of the end of the week for his request to be cleared, otherwise he too might quit.

There seems no reason for the board to keep their players in Zimbabwe. The domestic programme has now finished, and the national team has no matches arranged until the end of the year. The hyper inflation inside the country - 160,000% and rising - allied to the deepening civil unrest makes earning and living overseas attractive, certainly in the short term.

This, and the risk that by taking a hard line there is a danger of losing even more players, makes it likely that ZC will simply turn a blind eye to those heading to Europe.