Shaun William Tait to play in Zimbabwe T20 tournament

Australian right-arm fast bowler, Shaun William Tait, in a bid to pursue his Twenty20 career, has signed a contract with the Zimbabwean domestic side, Mid West Rhinos. Tait will participate in Zimbabwe’s domestic T20 tournament in the coming November. 

Tait was born on February 22, 1983, in Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia. Known by the nickname of Sloon, Tait has played cricket for Australia, Australia A, South Australia, Glamorgan, Durham, Rajasthan Royals.

He made his Test debut on August 25, 2005, at Nottingham, against England. Since then he has played only three Test matches and has taken only five wickets at an average of 60.40. His One Day International (ODI) Career started in February 2007 as he played his first match against England at Sydney.

Since then he has taken part in 35 ODIs and secured 62 wickets at an average of 23.56, emerging as a more successful ODI bowler than a Test one.

In the shortest format of the game, the right-arm bowler made his debut against the Kiwis, on December 11, 2007, at Perth, and until now he has played 62 T20Is and has grabbed 87 wickets at an average of 20.12.

Six weeks ago, Sloon signed a contract with Melbourne Renegades to participate in Australia’s Big Bash League and also made an agreement with a South African franchise, Dolphins, which is based in Durban, to take part in the Pro20 competition in the start of coming year.

The 1.93m tall fast bowler expects the Zimbabwe stint to facilitate him in gaining match fitness, which will be beneficial in the Big Bash excursion.

''That's the thing with Twenty20 tournaments, you've got to pick which ones are at the right time to keep your match fitness up, and rest in between,'' he said. ''It's just [before] the Big Bash, so it's perfect timing.''

The right-arm fast bowler had announced his retirement from longest format of the game in 2008 and proclaimed his retreat from ODI following Australia’s egress from the World 2011, at quarter-final stage, having been defeated by Pakistan.

After that, he signed a contract with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals and showed satisfactory performance, securing six wickets in four matches.

''The way it's going I'm just going to play [Twenty20] tournaments," Tait, who is still available to play Twenty20 cricket for Australia, said. "If clubs are keen to sign me, that's great. I've become sort of a freelance Twenty20 player.''