HARARE, Aug 12: Tatenda Taibu has insisted that money was not the motivation for his return to the Zimbabwe side, maintaining that it was a desire to play international cricket that made him go back.

Taibu quit Zimbabwe in November 2005 after he claimed he and his family were threatened by people with connections to the board. He attempted to find a career in Bangladesh, England and Namibia but failed to establish himself.

Cynics may argue that Taibu's return has been forced on him because he had run out of alternatives, but speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, he was quick to deny that.

“My wife was tired of travelling and asked if we could come back home and I agreed,” he said.

“She was against the idea of me leaving in the first place. All the time we were away she was always asking me when we were going back home.

“I realized that God gave me a talent not to play club cricket, but to play international cricket and the only way I could play international cricket was to return home.”

What is unclear is how Taibu, who was vociferously critical of the way that Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute ran Zimbabwe Cricket, made up with the two. All he would say is that “ZC and myself have realized that there is more to life than having disagreements”.

Taibu was owed tens of thousands of dollars by the board when he walked out, and Taibu did not to confirm or deny whether this sum had been paid to him before his return. In the past he had said that the money was a sticking point and it is believed that he has been paid.

He maintained that money was not an issue.

“It is now a matter of playing for my country, I have made enough money in my life and I still have other things that bring me money,” he said.—Agencies