Mark Vermeulen says he must start behaving himself before he can get back into Zimbabwe's Test team.

The 24-year-old has joined Sussex Premier League side East Grinstead after being thrown off the tour party for a breach of discipline following the defeat against England at Durham in the second Test.

Vermeulen, a former under-19s captain, ignored a management instruction to travel with the rest of the squad on the team coach after the second day at Chester-le-Street.

It is not the first time Vermeulen has been banned from cricket. In 1996, he was suspended from school and dropped from the Mashonaland Schools team after pulling the stumps out of the ground and walking off following an lbw decision.

He was also in trouble last year during a provincial match when he ran from slips to push batsman Ray Price from his crease after an unsuccessful appeal for a catch.

Vermeulen will return to his club Matabeleland in Zimbabwe after a four-week spell at East Grinstead. He is filling for fellow Zimbabwean Richard Sims who has been called up for the triangular one-day series that starts this week.

He said: "My aim is to get back in the Test side as soon as possible. My cricket is okay but I've just got to behave myself. If I can do that then I am confident I can get back in.

"I've been doing nothing since I was asked to leave the tour so I'm going to be helping out East Grinstead until I go back in mid-July. I want to do the best I can for them and, hopefully, it will help me get back in the Test side as soon an as possible."

The Test match at Durham was not just bad for Vermeulen, who became only the 13th man in Test history to be dismissed twice on the same day of a match.

It was also a blow for the whole Zimbabwe team after they lost by an innings for the second time in the series.

Vermeulen believes the retirement of influential players like Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell is the main reason for the current problems. But he says economic and political unrest in Zimbabwe is also to blame.

He said: "The Test against England was very disappointing. The problem is lots of experienced players like (Andy) Flower and Campbell have stopped playing and the team has suffered."

"Good players are looking elsewhere to play cricket, which is a pity. There is a superb young cricketer called Scott Brant, who has just left Zimbabwe, and he's not going back.

"He plays for Essex and also lives in Australia where he plays for Sheffield Shield. Zimbabwe will keep struggling if it looses its promising young players.

"The economy in Zimbabwe is shot to pieces and that has caused them to leave. It's a shame cricket should have to suffer because of it."

Vermeulen will also be turning out for the Lashings All-Stars team, which is made up of Test players who tour the country playing exhibition matches.

He will be replacing Grant Flower, who has been called up for the one-day squad, and is the latest in a long line of Zimbabwean players to turn out for the exhibition side.

Vermeulen said: "I'm just going round doing the filling-in jobs at the moment but I don't mind because it's good just to be playing cricket. I am looking forward to playing for them.

"Richie Richardson is the captain and there are other good players."

It is not the first time Vermeulen has played in England. His first experience was on a schools tour in 1996 and then with the national Under-19s team the following year.

In 1998 he played for Alderley Edge, of the Cheshire Premier League, and then had a spell at North Staffordshire Premier Division side Betley where he became the first club professional to score 1,000 runs in a season.

In 2000, he averaged 60 playing for Newcastle Premier League side Benwall and Wallbottle and for the past two summers, Vermeulen has been turning out for Fordhouses in the Birmingham League where he scored over 1,000 runs in 17 matches in his first season.

Vermeulen, whose father has been living in England for the past year, says he enjoys playing in this country and especially Sussex. Last month made 198 for Zimbabwe against Sussex at Hove.

He said: "Sussex is absolutely awesome, especially if the weather stays like it has been over the last few weeks.

"I have been over in England a lot and my Dad lives here so I have been visiting him. I know Richard (Sims) has been really enjoying his cricket at East Grinstead and he recommended that I replace him."