WORCESTERSHIRE have been boosted by the news that Zimbabwe Cricket has decided to withdraw from all of its Test match commitments during 2006.

Australia have a still-to-be-confirmed Test and one-day tour of the troubled African nation pencilled in for September, but this now looks seriously in doubt after recent developments.

With the County's Australian overseas players, Phil Jaques and Nathan Bracken, gaining more and more international recognition, there was a good chance they would have been involved in the proposed tour, which would have ruled them out of Worcestershire's final few games of the season.

New Road chief executive Mark Newton believes Zimbabwe's loss will turn out to be Worcestershire's gain.

He said: "Zimbabwe's decision does not surprise me and I think it is the right decision for international cricket.

"An Australian tour to Zimbabwe in September, which hasn't been confirmed yet, would probably affect the availability of Nathan and Phil for our last couple of matches.

"We knew this when we signed them, but if that tour now doesn't go ahead it will be a bonus for us to have them around until the end of the season.

"If it goes ahead, it will be just a one-day series, which should be to our advantage too."

It was has also been announced that Jaques had been drafted into the Australia one-day squad to face South Africa in today's VB Series match, much to Newton's delight.

The left-hander, who will be making his one-day debut less than a month after breaking into the Test team, will join Damien Martyn at the top of the order after Simon Katich was ruled out with a groin injury.

Newton added: "I am delighted that Phil has been called up to the one-day team. It proves what we thought when we signed both Nathan and Phil -- they are cricketers who are close to forcing their way into their national side.

"This makes them hungry and keen to impress in all games they play in, which can only benefit us."

Jaques is fresh from a century for New South Wales in the drawn Pura Cup match against Victoria at Lismore. He has scored three hundreds in the ING Cup this season for a haul of 520 runs at an average of 104.

n Ben Smith has been voted Worcestershire Supporters Association player of the year for the 2005 season.

The former skipper, who scored 1,477 runs at an average of 61.54 in the Championship, collected 48 per cent of the vote. Stephen Moore and Steven Davies finished second and third.