Suburban
Zimbabwe all-rounder Sean Williams will play for the Comilla Victorians in the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) which gets underway next month.
The 36-year-old Chevrons star was signed up by the three-time BPL champions during the tournament draft held in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The BPL draft featured a total of 660 cricketers, among them 400 foreigners and 260 local players.
Williams, who finished as Zimbabwe’s second-highest scorer at the recent ICC T20 World Cup in Australia with 155 runs and a haul of five wickets with the ball, was picked by the Comilla Victorians franchise.
The Cumilla City-based franchise is one of the most successful teams in the BPL, having been crowned champions three times.
The team is owned by wealthy Bangladeshi businesswoman Nafisa Kamal.
Williams will feature in a power-packed Comilla side alongside the likes of Bangladesh star Mustafizur Rahman and Liton Das, Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, opener Mohammad Rizwan and many other local stars.
The Bulawayo-born veteran allrounder joins fellow Zimbabweans Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl in the 2023 BPL.
Batting all-rounder Ryan Burl will play for Sylhet Strikers, while Zimbabwe’s superstar Sikandar Raza will feature for Rangpur Riders.
The ninth edition of the BPL will be played from 5 January to 15 February.
Brandon Mavuta
In a related matter, Zimbabwe cricket team leg spinner Brandon Mavuta is set for another stint on the English club cricket scene after re-signing with the Huddersfield-based Thongsbridge Cricket Club for their 2023 campaign. Mavuta is one of Zimbabwe’s hottest spin bowling prospects, who has already featured in 19 matches for the national side across the three formats.
The 25-year-old spinner, who recently led Mid-West Rhinos to the Pro50 Championship final will be making his return to Thongsbridge after a successful first stint in 2016 where he finished the campaign as the highest wicket-taker in the Drakes Huddersfield League.
The English team confirmed Mavuta’s return on their social media platforms on Tuesday.
Mavuta’s move to England comes hard on the heels of a very impressive season locally where he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2022/23 Pro50 Championship season which ended a couple of weeks ago.
Mavuta finished the season with 28 wickets in nine matches and was crowned bowler and player of the tournament.
His impressive individual performances have led to calls for him to be recalled to the senior men’s national team. The Kadoma-born spinner has already represented the country in two Tests, seven One Day Internationals (ODIs) and nine Twenty20 Internationals since making their international debut against Australia in 2018.
In addition to being a frontline spinner, Mavuta, who boasts over 200 domestic wickets, is also a more than useful batter, with a century and three fifties in first-class cricket.
He is looking to progress in the game and whilst he has targeted Franchise opportunities in the future. – zimsportlive
