Retired Zimbabwe international Andy Flower has paid tribute to his former team mate Henry Olonga, with whom he protested against President Robert Mugabe's regime during the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.
The two players made headlines during cricket's showpiece event, wearing black armbands to "mourn the death of democracy" in Zimbabwe, but Flower believes the younger Olonga, the first black cricketer to represent his country, had much more to lose.
"He was a black icon in Zimbabwe and the perfect role model for youngsters," the 34-year-old Flower wrote in a column for Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"The easy path for him to have taken would have been to stay in cricket and not say anything.
"I realise that he had much more to lose than I did over this issue and my respect for him is immense."
Flower, a world-class batsman who quit the international game last month after Zimbabwe's failure to reach the World Cup semi-finals, is playing English county cricket for Essex this season.
The 26-year-old Olonga, who went into hiding after the World Cup amid reports that the Zimbabwean secret police were looking for him, has also retired and is in England on a six-month work permit to play club cricket and do TV commentary.
Fast bowler Olonga, a gifted singer who has said he could look to music as an alternative career, played his 50th and final one-day international for Zimbabwe in the World Cup Super Six clash with Kenya in Bloemfontein on March 12.
"He is now getting his life sorted out over here (in England)," said Flower, who played 63 tests for Zimbabwe, making 4,794 runs and averaging a world-class 51.54 with 12
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