Zimbabwe’s 39-year-old leg-spinner has been recalled to the T20 squad for the series against Afghanistan.
Former Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer is on the verge of an international comeback after a long hiatus. The 39-year-old leg-spinner has been named in the T20 squad to face Afghanistan.
Cremer last played international cricket in March 2018 during the ODI World Cup qualifiers. Under his captaincy, Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, after which he stepped away from the game.
Following his international break, Cremer moved to the United Arab Emirates, where his wife, Merna, works as a commercial pilot.
Since December 2018, Cremer remained loosely involved in cricket while also dedicating time to golf. Earlier this year, he returned to Zimbabwe and made his competitive comeback in August, seven years later, playing in the National Premier League. In his first two matches of the 45-over tournament, he picked up four wickets in each game.
Cremer was not part of Zimbabwe’s squad for the Africa regional qualifiers for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe won that tournament to secure their place in next year’s World Cup. As part of World Cup preparations, selectors have included Cremer in the squad for the Afghanistan series.
Selectors have retained the same 15-member squad that remained unbeaten in the qualifiers, with the only change being Cremer replacing pacer Trevor Gwandure.
Cremer has played 19 Tests, 96 ODIs, and 29 T20Is for Zimbabwe so far.
Zimbabwe Cricket also confirmed that Sean Williams is unavailable due to personal reasons.
The entire series will take place in Harare, the venue of Afghanistan’s only Test against Zimbabwe. The three-match T20 series is scheduled for the upcoming Wednesday, Friday, and November 2.
Zimbabwe T20 Squad: Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Brad Evans, Clive Madande, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tinotenda Maposa, Tony Munyonga, Dion Myers, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor.
