25 April 2004	Sunday	04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

HARARE, April 24: A continued boycott by 15 white Zimbabwe professional cricketers has forced the national selectors here to choose a team once more from the country's second string to meet Sri Lanka in the third of five One-day Internationals at the Harare Sports Club here on Sunday.

They are sticking to the side which has already suffered two big defeats at the hands of the bemused tourists.

In refusing to show up for practice on Saturday as part of a new deal proposed by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, the dissident players underlined their rejection of a plan which would mean mediation by an independent body and of new procedures to resolve union and player differences.

Details of this plan are being withheld by the ZCU, but they are known to entail the involvement of an independent arbitrator and a one-on-one method of resolving future issues between the union and professional players.

It took former captain Heath Streak and senior batsman Grant Flower just a few minutes on Friday to turn down the idea of a mediation mechanism which the ZCU hoped would move negotiations forward quickly. Flower said later that the other 13 had also expressed disapproval.

As the stalemate continued into a fourth week since their insistence on reinstatement as captain of Streak - which ZCU chairman Peter Chingoka has said is "no longer for discussion" - there seems to be no further sign of a breakthrough.

Many of the players are still scattered around the country on holiday - at Nyanga mountain resort, Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba.

A players' meeting is being planned for Tuesday or Wednesday next week, after the return from neighbouring South Africa of their lawyer Chris Venturas.

Flower said: "Nothing is going to happen until at least then."

In these circumstances the 15 could not turn up for practice, which would be an indication that they are available for selection, until the crisis is resolved, because that would concede a negotiating position.

It seems inevitable that Sri Lanka will proceed on Sunday on their way to a series whitewash by the final match on Thursday.

Left-arm Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas will be looking for three more wickets to take him to a career 400, while vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene wants just 10 runs to reach 4 000 in this form of cricket.

Teams:

Zimbabwe: Tatenda Taibu (captain), Vusi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Dion Ebrahim, Elton Chigumbura, Stuart Matsikenyere, Alester Magwedere, Mluleki Nkala, Prosper Utseya, Douglas Hondo, Tinashe Panyangara. 12th man Tawanda Mpariwa.

Sri Lanka (from): Marvan Atapattu (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, T.M. Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Thilina Kandamby, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekera, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Rangana Herath.-AFP