Zimbabwe's Graeme Cremer takes temporary break from cricket

In yet another setback to Zimbabwe cricket, their former skipper Graeme Cremer has temporarily put his cricket career on hold. The 32-year-old took the decision to take a break from the game citing family commitments. Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed the news on Thursday after the veteran informed them of his intentions.

The country’s cricket is going through a tough phase right now. Not only has their on-field performance been poor, but the escalating tension between the board and the players has also made matters worse for the team. Last year, high profile players like Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza and Cremer had boycotted international games in protest over non-payment of the players’ salaries.

In June of 2018 before the tri-series at home against Pakistan and Australia, all the five players had made themselves unavailable for selection. They had demanded salaries and their match fees dating back to their tour of Sri Lanka in 2017.

Unsurprisingly, Zimbabwe struggled to cope without these players and had a forgettable outing in the tri-series. In fact, they had a 2018 to forget as far as the results are concerned. Despite hosting the World Cup qualifier, they failed to make it through. They also lost against Afghanistan at home and suffered whitewashes in the ODI series to Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh.

With things not going their way, the last thing Zimbabwe would have wanted to see someone like Cremer taking a break from the game. While confirming the news, Zimbabwe Cricket stated that Cremer is moving to Dubai to be with his pilot wife. The board also expressed its desire to see their former captain back in the country.

“Former @ZimCricketv captain @GraemeCremer has put his cricket career on hold due to family commitments. He recently relocated to join his pilot wife who is now based in Dubai. We can’t wait to have you back, Joey, but we send our best wishes to you, @MernaCremer767 and kids 🏏🇿🇼” ZC wrote.

Former @ZimCricketv captain @GraemeCremer has put his cricket career on hold due to family commitments. He recently relocated to join his pilot wife who is now based in Dubai. We can't wait to have you back, Joey, but we send our best wishes to you, @MernaCremer767 and kids 🏏🇿🇼 pic.twitter.com/ujUxEMyrF3

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) January 10, 2019

Career in numbers:

The leg-spinner has so far represented Zimbabwe in 19 Tests, 96 One-Day Internationals and 29 Twenty20 Internationals. He has taken 57 Test wickets, 119 ODI wickets and 35 in T20Is along with a ton in Tests. One of his finest moments in international cricket was in 2017 when he led Zimbabwe to their first ODI series win in Sri Lanka.

Cremer’s last ODI appearance was in March last year when Zimbabwe played against UAE in the World Cup qualifier.

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