Sean Williams, a Zimbabwe all-rounder, has decided to come out of T20I retirement and has been named to the squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, which begins this afternoon at Harare Sports Club. Williams announced his retirement from the shorter format on Zimbabwe’s away tour of Bangladesh last year. His last appearance was in the fifth and final T20I of the series, which Zimbabwe won by eight wickets.
The 37-year-old will return to international T20 cricket with an amazing record of 81 matches, 1,691 runs at an average of 23.48, 11 half-centuries, and a highest score of 66. Since his debut against Bangladesh in Khulna in November 2006, he has taken 38 wickets, with a high of 3/15.
Zimbabwe T20I captain Sikandar Raza welcomed Sean Williams’ return, noting that his experience, along with the inclusion of Brendan Taylor in the squad,
Will provide a significant boost to the Chevrons dugout. Raza, who was recently crowned the no. 1 ODI all-rounder, said that he had a discussion with Williams regarding the call, and things eventually worked out.
“It’s nice to have Willow [Williams] back, of course. We had this conversation a few months back. During the Test matches, I had a chat with Willow one-on-one, and we said, ‘This is an opportunity to get to the World Cup’. You just have to decide for yourself and your family,” Raza said as quoted by News Day.
“Willow took some time and decided that he’s ready. You’ve got to look at his workload. Willow is an all-rounder, and he’s been playing every single game for Zimbabwe. His fitness level, time away from the family — he has to consider all those options. After speaking to the family and the people he trusts, he decided to come back, and we’re very blessed and happy that Willow is back,” the Zimbabwean skipper added.
Zimbabwe confident of pulling off exciting T20 leg
Zimbabwe showed promise in the recent ODI series against Sri Lanka, narrowly missing out on victories in both matches. Raza said he is motivated by those performances and hopes his team can carry that form into the T20Is. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka acknowledged the threat posed by the hosts and said he is expecting a tough series at Harare Sports Club.
“I’m a big believer that once you start looking at the end result, the whole process gets away from you. I thought the way we batted, fielded, and bowled in the ODI series should give us a lot of confidence to have another exciting T20 series against Sri Lanka,” said Raza.
“Knowing that they are also using this tour to prepare for the qualifiers, I think they’ll be really challenging for us. A few young players are inside the Zimbabwe team, and I think it will be a good, challenging T20 series. We just want to do our basics really well,” said the Sri Lankan skipper.
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