Raza denied Zimbabwe Cricket contract

Sikandar Raza will not take part in the national team's upcoming tours of South Africa and Bangladesh after being surprisingly axed from Zimbabwe Cricket's (ZC) list of centrally contracted players for the 2018-19 season, reports https://bulawayo24.com.

The 32 year-old all-rounder, who hasn't played for Zimbabwe since being named player of the tournament during the ICC World Cup qualifier held in the country in March, was hoping to resume his international career following stints in Canada and England.

He will, however, have to wait longer before he can make a return after revealing that he had not been offered a new contract while no reasons were provided by ZC's newly appointed managing director Givemore Makoni.

"I have been informed by my agent that the new acting MD Mr Givemore Makoni will not offer me a contract and I will not be considered for selection for SA and Bang [sic] tour! Reasons for that are still unknown to me and hopefully I or my agent will be informed of those soon. Hope this answers the questions to many who have been asking regarding my availability," Raza said in a statement.

Raza is one of several players who missed the T-20 tri-series which involved Australia and Pakistan and the subsequent five-match one-day international (ODI) series against the latter due to a salary dispute with the local cricket mother body.

Zimbabwe will play the hosts South Africa in three ODIs and the same number of T-20 internationals from September 30 to October 14 before heading to Bangladesh for three Tests and ODI matches from October 19 to November 15.