EX-ZIMBABWE Test captain Tatenda Taibu has been offered a safe haven in Maidstone by Lashings.

The 22-year-old retired from cricket last month, blaming the state of Zimbabwean cricket for his decision and claiming that he had recieved personal threats.

Taibu has been offered the chance to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Henry Olonga, who fled Zimbabwe after the 2004 World Cup.

Olonga’s famous protest at the "Death of Democracy" made him persona non grata under the totalitarian regime of President Robert Mugabe.

He was offered asylum in the UK after the intervention of Tony Blair and spent the summer of 2004 playing for Lashings and living in the house of the club’s owner David Folb. Folb is now urging Taibu to follow Olonga’s lead and come out of hiding.

He said: "At the moment we’re trying to find him, because nobody knows where he is.

"There are lots of Zimbabweans who live in Kent and might know where he is. We’d urge them to get in touch with him and let him know there’s the opportunity to play club cricket with Lashings."

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