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Zimbabwe Cricket captain Sean Williams quits

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BY FIRDOSE MOONDA

Sean Williams has informed the Zimbabwe team management of his intention to step away from international cricket after the team’s current tour of Ireland, but he remains open to the possibility of playing white-ball cricket for the country in the future.

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Williams, the Zimbabwe Test captain right now, is with the national team in Ireland, but had earlier requested the selectors to not consider him for the five T20Is in Ireland, starting Friday, or the T20Is in Scotland next month.

But he is available for the three ODIs against Ireland, which will come after the T20Is.

ESPNcricinfo understands that he has cited bio bubble fatigue and uncertainty over his future as a cricketer as the main reasons for his decision.

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Williams arrived in Ireland on Wednesday, six days after the rest of the squad, after requesting a mental-health break from the T20I series, and told the team management of his decision shortly after completing his isolation.

Before his arrival, Zimbabwe Cricket had to announce a fifth captain since the start of 2020 for the tour. 

Craig Ervine will lead the side in Ireland and Scotland following on from Chamu Chibhabha, Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza and Williams over the last few series.

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ESPNcricinfo understands that while Williams was not unhappy to not be given leadership duties on this tour, he had several other gripes with the way Zimbabwe cricket is being run and their string of poor results.

Under coach Lalchand Rajput, Zimbabwe have only won four ODIs in three years, all against the UAE, and there are serious concerns among senior players that they will not qualify for the 2023 50-over World Cup – Zimbabwe are currently at the bottom of the World Cup Super League points table.

Williams (34), is a veteran of the Zimbabwe team, having made his international debut in 2005, when he turned out in an ODI against South Africa in Johannesburg.

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Overall, he has played 14 Tests, 136 ODIs and 47 T20Is. Primarily a middle-order batter, the left-handed Williams has 1034 runs in Tests, at an average of 41.36, with four centuries and three half-centuries, as well as 3958 ODI runs at 35.02, with four hundreds and 32 fifties.

He also 945 runs in T20Is, at an average of 22.50 and strike rate of 128.39, with six fifties.

To go with those numbers, he has picked up 21 wickets in Tests, 72 in ODIs, and 32 in T20Is with his left-arm spin.

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He led Zimbabwe for the first time during a triangular T20I series in Singapore, with Nepal as the third team, in September-October 2019, but has been the team’s captain in a more regular capacity since 2020.

His performance with the bat, especially, has been noteworthy since he was given the reins of the Test team: three of his four Test centuries have come in four Tests as captain, including his best of 151* in what could turn out to be his last Test, and he has an average of 96.20 in those games. – ESPNcricinfo

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National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

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In the community

Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

 

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

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Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

 

“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

 

The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

 

Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

 

When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

 

Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

 

“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

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