Talks with Zimbabwe rebels make progress

The chances of Zimbabwe's rebel players returning to the fold are better than ever if the meeting between the players and a three-man ad hoc committee set up by Zimbabwe Cricket is anything to go by.

The meeting, the second of its kind, which lasted for about four hours, took place on Sunday in Harare and several players described it as positive - as long as Zimbabwe Cricket also remain keen. The players said they might return sooner than expected.

The players, however, refused to shed more light on what actually happened they did not want to say anything to the press as this might jeopardise the negotiations. "The meeting was really positive," one said. "It is not true that we will come back unconditionally. Our position is still the same from the beginning, there are few issues which have to be addressed before we come back and play. We are still united."

At the meeting were Heath Streak, Raymond Price, Craig Wishart, Andy Blignaut, Trevor Gripper, Grant Flower, Neil Ferreira and Stuart Carlisle, while Addington Chinake (chairman), George Makings, Jackie du Preez and ZC human resources general manager Wilfred Mukondiwa represented the board.

Realistically, it is unlikely that the discussions will be resolved in time for any of the rebels to be included on the tour of South Africa as there is no follow-up meeting planned for at least another fortnight.