Veteran Zimbabwean cricketer Sean Williams has voluntarily entered a rehabilitation program after admitting to struggling with drug addiction, leading to his immediate exclusion from national team selection. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) also confirmed that his central contract will not be renewed upon its expiry later this year.
Sean Williams, ZC cites disciplinary concerns
In an official release, the cricket board noted that Sean Williams’ recent behavior had hindered team functioning.
They highlighted “a pattern of disciplinary issues and repeated unavailability, which impacted preparations and performances”, prompting a deeper investigation into his absence ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier.
It was during this inquiry that the 39-year-old all-rounder disclosed his battle with substance abuse and opted to begin rehab.
“𝒁𝑪 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝒅𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔,” — 𝒁𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒘𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕
A two-decade international career
Sean Williams, who debuted in 2005 under Tatenda Taibu’s captaincy, recently completed 20 years in international cricket, making him the longest-serving active international cricketer, surpassing England’s James Anderson in terms of time.
Throughout his illustrious career, he represented Zimbabwe in:
- 24 Test matches – 1946 runs & 26 wickets
- 164 ODIs – 5217 runs & 86 wickets
- 85 T20Is – 1805 runs & 49 wickets
His last appearance for the Chevrons was in the T20I series against Namibia, where he smashed a 45-ball 77 in the final match.
Board supports recovery journey
While the board acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, they also expressed appreciation for everything Williams has contributed to the sport and the country.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚,” — 𝒁𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒘𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕
In another heartfelt note, ZC added:
“𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.”
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