HARARE, May 21: The Zimbabwe squad that was thrashed by Sri Lanka recently has been retained for the three one-day internationals against Australia next week.

Sri Lanka beat Tatenda Taibu's young team 5-0 in the one-day series and won both Tests by an innings.

The squad announced by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) on Friday for the series against Australia is comprised only of players who were in the squads named to face Sri Lanka.

Australia's tour was to have included two Tests, starting in Harare on Saturday, followed by three one-day internationals but the ZCU and Cricket Australia on Friday agreed to scrap the Test series and move the one-dayers forward.

The Test series was in danger of having its status revoked by the International Cricket Council because Zimbabwe would in all likelihood have been forced to field an under-strength side.

Zimbabwe named inexperienced teams against Sri Lanka because 15 experienced players made themselves unavailable in a dispute with the ZCU. The matches against Australia will be played in Harare on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Squad: Tatenda Taibu (captain), Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Alester Maregwede, Douglas Hondo, Tinashe Panyangara, Mark Vermeulen, Tawanda Mupariwa, Mluleki Nkala, Vusumuzi Sibanda, Edward Rainsford, Waddington Mwayenga.

Rebels taking case to ICC

Meanwhile the 15 rebel players have been sacked again and have referred their dispute with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the players' lawyer said on Friday.

"The Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) lawyer called me to say the players are all fired, and that they must return their cars to the ZCU," lawyer Chris Venturas said. The players were first sacked on May 10.

Zimbabwe cricket has been in turmoil since the 15 leading white players refused to play last month. They accused the Zimbabwe board of allowing politicians to dictate the make-up of the team and of rushing young black players into the side before they were ready.

The ZCU, which follows a policy of promoting black players to reflect the country's population, first offered to negotiate but then lost patience and sacked the players. -Reuters