The Sunday News
ZIMBABWE Professional Cricketers Association (ZPCA) chief executive officer Eliah Zvimba will represent the country at the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) annual general meeting in Melbourne, Australia.
The AGM will run from Wednesday up to Friday.
At the gathering, Zvimba, who departs today for Australia is expected to give two presentations on the Zimbabwe player situation. Zvimba has been co-opted as an ex-officio board member of FICA. After the AGM, Zvimba’s itinerary includes meeting various stakeholders who include the Australian Cricketers Association.
Paul Marsh, the FICA chief executive officer wrote to Zvimba last month advising him that it was imperative for him to attend the meeting since it was going to close the gap between FICA and the Zimbabwean players.
Some of the items up for discussions at the FICA meeting are the strengthening of the international players’ body and the relations with the International Cricket Council.
The ZPCA was formed in January with the main objective of representing players’ interests in labour and general welfare including conditions of service. This was after national team players as well as their franchise counterparts went for months without getting their salaries from Zimbabwe Cricket.
Zvimba said as an association their aim was to create a legacy for future cricketers by coming up with a comprehensive plan and engaging stakeholders.
The players’ body is in the process of finalising a memorandum of understanding with ZC, setting up a board of advisors as well as a fulltime secretariat.
Out of the 10 ICC Full members, only India does not have a players association.
In March this year, a delegation from FICA met representatives of Zimbabwe cricketers in Harare. The delegation included Tony Irish, the South African Professional Cricketers Association chief executive officer and Andrew Breetzke, the SACA head of player services and advocacy.
