HARARE (Reuters)
Zimbabwe's players considered striking before their final match in the one-day series against England after a series of rows with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, according to a source close to the team. The source told Reuters the players had not been paid for six weeks and had not received new contracts. He added the imposition of racial quotas was also dividing the squad. No officials from the Zimbabwean Cricket Union (ZCU) could be contacted for comment on Tuesday. President Peter Chingoka and chief executive David Ellman-Brown are both overseas. The source said the players believed the union should be in a position to pay them following India's two-Test tour earlier this year.

According to a ZCU policy document released this year, the national team should include at least three black players and four in the squad. The document said by January the quota should increase to four black team players and five in a squad of 15, with six in the starting line-up by September 2004. Zimbabwe fielded two black players as they lost the final one-dayer to England to lose the series by a 5-0 whitewash. Their leading black player, Henry Olonga, missed most of the series through injury. Signs of unhappiness within the squad emerged in June when Heath Streak gave up the captaincy and went on strike on the morning of the first one-day international against the West Indies, citing differences of opinion over selection. Zimbabwe have lost their last 12 one-dayers in a row. They have also lost their last two Test series, to West Indies and South Africa.

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