By Charles Randall

26 April 2012

The Zimbabwe left-hander Craig Ervine has withdrawn from Test cricket to join Lymington CC as player-coach in the Southern League this summer.

Ervine, 27, will miss Zimbabwe's home series against Bangladesh after excelling with the bat in the recent tour of the West Indies, deciding instead to honour his agreement with Lymington.

A spokesman for Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that Ervine, brother of the Hampshire all-rounder Sean, had turned down a short-term international contract in order to play league cricket in Hampshire. Ervine commented on Twitter that he was disappointed to be missing the two-Test series. "In life, tough choices have to be made and this is one of them," he said.

Ervine, after four Tests, made what would almost certainly be a money-related decision. It has been reported that Zimbabwe players might earn less than £100 a week in contracts of only a few months, with late or irregular payment stretching loyaly to the limit. Craig's brother Sean, now contracted to Hampshire for another three years, opted out of the West Indies tour.

Bangladesh are considering giving the Pakistan-born batsman Sikandar Raza Butt his Test debut against Zimbabwe in Harare.