Two Zimbabwe Cricketers go missing in England

Brendan Taylor and Graeme Cremer

Two Zimbabwe cricketers Graeme Cremer and Brendan Taylor have gone missing in England enroute to Zimbabwe following their tour of the West Indies.

The Zimbabwe cricket squad arrived the country on Thursday minus the two player amid fears that they might have defected. The team were granted six months transit visas by the British Embassy when they went toured West Indies.

Sources in the team said the players had decided to stay behind in England. Zimbabwe Cricket said they would issue at statement later on the fate of the players.

This is not the first time that Zimbabwe sportspersons have defected in the United Kingdom. Six CAPS United players went decided not come to back to Zimbabwe when the club played a controversial friendly match in the United Kingdom in 2004.

Crèmer – a leg spinner made his Test debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka on January 6, 2005, a match that Zimbabwe went on to lose handing the Bangladeshi Tigers their first ever Test match victory.

Cremer then played Tests against South Africa and New Zealand. Unfortunately Cremer, seen by many as a Test specialist, had his opportunities limited thereafter due to Zimbabwe’s self-imposed exile from Test cricket. After several years on the fringes of the national team Cremer finally broke into the limited overs squad against the West Indies in late 2005.

Taylor made his debut for Zimbabwe at a time when many of the country’s leading players rebelled against Zimbabwe Cricket (formally known as the Zimbabwean Cricket Union) and made themselves unavailable to represent the side.

He is a good all-round player, who has in the past been successful bowling off-break deliveries. He was recently Zimbabwe’s first choice wicketkeeper until the return of Tatenda Taibu behind the stumps.

Despite his young age, Taylor is among the most experienced players in the current Zimbabwean team, and is considered the team’s best batsman with 11 ODI half-centuries to his name, and a top ODI score of 98