HARARE, (Reuters) – Mark Vermeulen took a step closer to an unlikely test return after a decade on the sidelines when Zimbabwe named him in a 15-man squad for the one-off test against neighbours South Africa which starts in Harare today.
Zimbabwe, playing their first test since beating Pakistan in Harare last September, also named the uncapped bowling pair of John Nyumbu and Cuthbert Musoko in the squad, released by Zimbabwe Cricket yesterday.
The 35-year-old Vermeulen, who admitted burning down Zimbabwe’s cricket academy in 2006 but was acquitted on the grounds of mental illness, last played a test for the country against Sri Lanka in Bulawayo in May 2004.
He retired from all forms of cricket in 2011 in the hope of forging a career in golf but that was short-lived and within a year, he was back playing on the Zimbabwe domestic scene.
Vermeulen, also banned for a year by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2006 after an altercation with a spectator at a Central Lancashire League club match, scored a century for Zimbabwe A against Afghanistan last week.
Zimbabwe squad: Brendan Taylor (captain and wicketkeeper), Sikandar Raza Butt, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Cuthbert Musoko, Richmond Mutumbami, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Donald Tiripano, Mark Vermeulen, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams.
