Sean Williams opts out of the Afghanistan T20 league

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sean Williams has opted out of the Afghanistan’s Shpageeza Cricket League to be played between 11th and 22nd September. The 30-year-old has decided to stay back home to work on his fitness. The Speenghar Tigers, led by the Afghanistan keeper Shafiqullah Shafaq, had bought Williams in the auctions.

He was one of the highest paid overseas players in the league as the Speenghar signed up the Zimbabwe player for a whopping 10,216 USD approx. Bangladesh’s star opener Tamim Iqbal also got the earned the same pay from the team. In the eye of upcoming national commitment, Williams has decided to improve his fitness instead of playing the league.

Fitness a priority

“I just decided against travelling out to Afghanistan. I wanted to pass my fitness test and the Afghan competition comes at a time I feel I’m only half through my best fitness levels,” Williams was quoted saying by the Daily News.

“I’m glad that I passed my mock beep test last week under national team fitness trainer Sean Bell and Matabeleland Tuskers head coach Wayne James. This was only a mock test and now looking forward to the actual test that is set for September 11.” he added.

Williams is aiming to take part in the upcoming domestic cricket season for his Matabeleland Tuskers team which gets underway later this month and also the 2-match Test series against West Indies in October.

“We started training as Tuskers last week and been training with the rest of the guys every day. We haven’t actually set down at the moment to discuss about this season’s targets but I’m pretty sure that’s the exercise that will be coming soon. To be honest, I’m also looking forward to that series (West Indies) after returning home from Sri Lanka, and I’m sure all the guys can’t wait too,” Williams said.

As at the moment, eight other Zimbabwe players will be part of the T20 league played across 12 days. Williams added his team-mates can gain some match practice by playing in the tournament. “It’s different format all together for the guys going to Afghanistan but all the same they will be gaining some vital game time.”