April 6, 2008
Posted on 04/06/2008 in Zimbabwe cricket
In the Sunday Telegraph, Steve James writes that should Robert Mugabe be forced from office in Zimbabwe then there will be a bonus for cricket in the country in that it may well signal the demise of ZC chairman Peter Chingoka.
Under Chingoka and his evil-eyed side-kick Ozias Bvute, Zimbabwean cricket has been crippled. Only without them could cricket in the country ever hope to begin dragging itself from its "quagmire of cronyism", as one close observer has described it.
Even if Mugabe and Chingoka are ousted, a return to Test cricket seems impossible. Zimbabwe's cricketing infrastructure appears far too damaged. Their twin pillars of school and club cricket have all but been destroyed. A talent base of players and administrators has left the country. Those that remain have little desire to be involved, change of government or not.
Times of India's Manu Joseph remembers his 2003 trip to Zimbabwe:
One morning, the blonde host began to tell me how much the world hated Robert Mugabe. The world, of course, called him a despot and considered his campaign against affluent white farmers, racist. “Even the blacks hate him,” she said. That, I was not willing to believe. The Third World brain is universal and I knew that between the rich and their despot, the poor will always hate the rich more.
March 22, 2008
Posted on 03/22/2008 in Zimbabwe cricket
Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, has given an interview to Alex Brown in the Sydney Morning Herald, accompanied by some scathing editorial.
Chingoka is not the easiest person to interview; part obstinate, part evasive, part combative. Then again, if you were being asked to account for millions of dollars in missing funds - as well as a recent independent audit that allegedly uncovered "serious financial irregularities" within your organisation - you might be a little tetchy, too.
[He] is alleged to have siphoned money earmarked for grassroots cricket in Zimbabwe and, along with aide Ozias Bvute, feathered his own nest. While the country's cricketers are forced to play on unprepared wickets, with no scorers to maintain proper first-class records, Chingoka has stood impervious, safe in the knowledge that he still maintains full voting privileges on the International Cricket Council - the same as India, England and Australia - and therefore remains a sought-after ally. To sport-loving Zimbabweans, black and white, he is the Grinch who stole cricket.
March 19, 2008
Posted on 03/19/2008 in Zimbabwe cricket
As expected, the Zimbabwe media have seized on the ICC’s decision not to take any action against Zimbabwe Cricket to attack critics of the regime, most notably the British government.
The Zimbabwe Guardian , which claimed that the independent forensic audit by KPMG had found only “minor improprieties” said that the outcome would be “an embarrassment to British PM Gordon Brown and those politicians in Westminster who expected a different result”
It also quoted an unnamed member of the national side as saying:
“They did not expect to get this result. They wanted Zimbabwe to be found guilty of irregularities. This disappoints the British government who were considering banning Zimbabweans from sporting activities in the UK. Chingoka had always maintained his innocence. This news will not be good news to people like Gordon Brown and Henry Olonga who have strongly criticised Zimbabwe Cricket.”
March 16, 2008
Posted on 03/16/2008 in ICC
The ICC must expel Zimbabwe in the wake of a damning audit and sanction Sunil Gavaskar, chairman of the ICC's cricket committee, for his newspaper column in reaction to match referee Mike Procter's imposition of a three-Test ban on Harbhajan Singh, says Malcolm Conn in the Australian.
If it does not, this hopelessly compromised organisation will reinforce its ruined reputation as a bunch of serving cronies with no interest in the good of the game.
Should Zimbabwe stay intact as a full voting but non-playing Test member of the ICC and Gavaskar not be punished for claiming that white match referee Mike Procter is racially biased against Indian players because of their colour, then the very worst fears of cricket's present and future will be reinforced .
South Africa's Times claims that the forensic audit will slam the Zimbabwe board.
It is known to paint a damning picture of Zimbabwe cricket’s finances. Singled out for particular censure are ZCU president Peter Chingoka and CEO Ozias Bvute. Depending on the severity of the penalties against the two, they could be removed from their positions on the relevant ICC sub-committees.
Bvute sits on the chief executive’s committee, while Chingoka sits on the governance review committee, a rather rich state of affairs given that corporate governance does not appear to be Zimbabwe cricket’s strongest suit. The final report represents at least two years of arduous work by the ICC and the auditors, in which they have received very little help from the ZCU.
The ICC, like FIFA, has to take control of the game and make it possible for the players to earn good money while still playing for their country, says Tony Becca in the Jamaica Gleaner.
November 19, 2007
Posted on 11/19/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
A report in The Sunday Telegraph highlights a change of approach from the UK government which makes it less likely that any England side will play Zimbabwe while Robert Mugabe remains in power.
While the Blair government was all too willing to talk, it refused to take any action and left the onus on the England board. Under Gordon Brown, it seems words might be backed by actions.
Amid suggestions of a hardening of attitudes since Gordon Brown took over, the government are looking again at legal options.
Should the Government decide on a blanket ban on all sporting links with Zimbabwe, it is possible the effects might be felt beyond cricket. Such a move might raise questions, for example, over Zimbabwean participation in the 2012 London Olympics.
September 13, 2007
Posted on 09/13/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
There’s not much to cheer in Zimbabwe these days, so you can forgive the state-run Herald newspaper, the only mainstream publication in the country, from going overboard after Zimbabwe’s stunning win against Australia. It was unsurprising that the match is the lead story on the front page.
One commentator noted that now everyone knew why the Australian national side was banned by its government from coming to Zimbabwe for a one-day international series this month.
Zimbabwe had won the hearts of the crowd for their commitment in all departments and it was no surprise that virtually everyone waited for their chance to congratulate the victorious players who went on a victory lap. The electronic scoreboard stayed with the message "Congratulations Zimbabwe" for the night.
Perhaps fortunately, the result came too late for today’s Australian papers, but tomorrow’s are unlikely to be too forgiving to Ricky Ponting’s side.
David Hopps in The Guardian notes:
It was also an embarrassing start for Tim Nielsen, Australia's new coach, whose side were 50-1 on favourites, but who looked unprepared both physically and mentally. They had practiced on the featherbed pitches of Johannesburg and entirely failed to adapt to the more hostile conditions in Cape Town.
In The Daily Telegraph, Simon Briggs says it was down to preparation.
Beset by political troubles, Zimbabwe have suspended themselves voluntarily from Test cricket indefinitely. There are many within the sport who believe they should not be allowed to compete at all until the tyrant Robert Mugabe is deposed. But whatever the real-world backdrop, this team have clearly prepared themselves with great efficiency for this tournament. Their bowling was disciplined, and their batting cool-headed.
August 3, 2007
Posted on 08/03/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
How is it possible that Zimbabwe Cricket has more influence in the governance of the game than the serial world champions, Australia? Malcolm Conn in The Australian has taken aim at the vested interests that control the game's ruling body.
Zimbabwe continues to enjoy the same constitutional power and authority over the running of the game as Australia. Indeed, in the politics of cricket, where the big games are really played, Zimbabwe can be said to be more powerful than Australia because it is part of the Afro-Asia bloc with India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which ultimately controls the game.
So having destroyed the game in its own country and lost almost all of its good players to professional offers overseas, the Zimbabwe administration remains a central figure of the ICC as one of the so-called 10 Test countries which run the game. Except that because Zimbabwe has "voluntarily" withdrawn from Test cricket, it is no longer officially counted by the ICC on its own ranking system.
June 26, 2007
Posted on 06/26/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Kate Hoey, the former Sports Minister, demands that her successor, Richard Caborn, takes the same stance that the Australian government recently took, and demands a boycott of Zimbabwean cricket.
Mr Caborn was a noted campaigner against apartheid in South Africa and an advocate of the sporting boycott. He should now join all those in Zimbabwe, including the trade unions, calling for a similar sporting boycott of Zimbabwe. It is time for an end to double standards.
And Hoey's article was followed by an announcement that the Liberal Democrats had tables a Commons motion critical of the decision to grant the visa. The party's shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster MP, said:
Considering the way in which Mr Chingoka was appointed to his job, its is frankly ridiculous to argue that cricket has not become a political tool of this deplorable regime.
May 24, 2007
Posted on 05/24/2007 in ICC
In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins interviews Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, about the problems facing cricket’s governing body.
The two main issues seem to be the format of the World Cup and Zimbabwe. On the World Cup, Speed admits that things need looking at:
“We will thoroughly review the 2007 tournament, learn from any mistakes and do our best to ensure they are not repeated. I think 16 teams is a good number, but there is scope to knock at least a week off the duration by playing through Easter and scheduling more than one game a day. The popularity of day/night matches in the four host countries could enable us to have day games and day/night games running on the same dates.”
And as for Zimbabwe, it is very much the same message as has been trotted out for several years:
“We have said consistently that governments should make political decisions rather than cricket boards and if a government refuses its team permission to tour another country, we respect that. If sporting sanctions are to apply, they must apply to all sports. I do not believe that they would solve any of the problems that the people of Zimbabwe face.”
May 13, 2007
Posted on 05/13/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
While the Australian government has already delivered its final verdict on the tour of Zimbabwe, Dean Jones argues against it, stating that Australia have a moral responsibility by touring and inspiring youngsters to take up the game, rather than go back to a life of crime.
When many of Australia's top cricketers took the blood money and went on the rebel tour of South Africa, Zimbabwe helped provide experience for our next generation to develop quickly. I was one of them.
It is worth remembering that Jones, who commentated on the previous Australia tour of Zimbabwe in 2004, said at the time: "I'm just there to watch the cricket and I don't give a rat's arse what he [Mugabe] does about his country."
Read the full piece in the Herald Sun.
May 11, 2007
Posted on 05/11/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
The Zimbabwe Independent, an almost lone voice in a state-controlled media, has warned that Robert Mugabe would seize on the visit of the Australian side for propaganda purposes. It warned about the kind of story that would follow:
"Blair says Zimbabwe is a pariah state and everything has collapsed, but even the world cricket champions have enjoyed our hospitality. Go and tell Mr Howard back home that there is no war in Zimbabwe and the people are as happy and friendly as ever."
But it went on to say that a boycott would do nothing to harm Mugabe:
Anyone who believes Mugabe would shed a tear if Australia were to call off their scheduled tour of Zimbabwe might as well believe the veteran leader will spend the remainder of his old life in a monastery. If Mugabe has defied international pressure directed at his person for the past seven years, there is no reason to believe that cricket sanctions would make a dent on his conscience.
Whatever propaganda Mugabe will spin should Ricky Ponting and his men come, the word already knows the truth and the lies will only be as good as that — lies. We hope Australia will make a sporting decision instead of a political one. Zimbabwe’s young and inexperienced cricketers need Australia more than Mugabe does. The young players have a future and Mugabe doesn’t have.
May 8, 2007
Posted on 05/08/2007 in Australian cricket
In The Australian, Malcolm Conn says that John Howard’s offer to pay any fine levied by the ICC should Australia refuse to tour Zimbabwe is not the solution:
A government ban would solve all of CA's problems but with it would come a Pandora's box. Should there also be a ban on touring Pakistan next year, given it is a military dictatorship? Should Australia ban its Olympic team from competing in Beijing given China's human rights record?
But he also has a go at the game itself:
The fundamental problem is that the Zimbabwean crisis proves how rotten world cricket administration is at the top.
In its broadest, philosophical sense cricket's weeping sore is a continuation of the fight against colonialism which takes deeply held loyalties to the ICC, regardless of the consequences.
During the dark days of white supremacist rule in South Africa and Zimbabwe, India was a strong ally of the freedom fighters in southern Africa.
Only last month, that nexus was graphically highlighted again when India walked away from an agreement with Australia to play three one-day matches in Ireland next month.
India will now play South Africa in a meaningless match worth millions in television rights. Why? Because Australia is supporting England chairman David Morgan to take over as president of the ICC as part of the proper rotation of the position. South Africa decided to support Indian board chief Sharad Pawar, a government minister.
April 16, 2007
Posted on 04/16/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
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Vusi Sibanda: "I don't feel like my game has improved, and I believe that will happen in Australia"
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Vusi Sibanda tells the Sydney Morning Herald’s Alex Brown how he plans to walk away from international cricket in Zimbabwe to play for a Sydney club side.
There is little joy in Sibanda's voice when he outlines his intention to retire aged 23 in pursuit of what would seem an inverse sporting dream. Sitting in the pavilion at Bankstown Oval, a fortnight after playing at the World Cup, Sibanda wearily details the social and sporting decline of his homeland.
"I had dreamed of playing for Zimbabwe all my life but, over the years, it has changed a lot," he says, having just guided an invitational African XI to victory in the annual Cricket Masala tournament in western Sydney. "The young guys have been left to clean up the mess. In the last three years, I don't feel like my game has improved, and I believe that will happen in Australia."
March 18, 2007
Posted on 03/18/2007 in Zimbabwe cricket
Amid all the celebrations at Ireland’s fightback to tie with Zimbabwe last Thursday, what many overlooked was that the result was another major blow to Zimbabwean cricket. A Test nation, with an income from the ICC of many millions of dollars, should not be humbled by part-timers … although Pakistan showed two days later that lightning can strike twice.
In The Sunday Telegraph, Sycld Berry argues that restoring Zimbabwe’s Test status in November – which is what the Zimbabwe board are telling anyone that will listen will happen – would not only be bad for the game but also bad for the standing of the sport inside the country itself.
Quite apart from the ethics involved in allowing a nation which has Robert Mugabe for head of state to participate in the world community, Zimbabwe seem to be even more unfit for Test cricket now than when they were suspended.
The last of Zimbabwe's Tests was one of their better performances too: they lost by no greater margin than 10 wickets. Their previous seven Tests against countries other than Bangladesh were all lost by an innings and large amounts of runs, South Africa winning one Test in two days.
If the ICC want to help, the world body should organise and fund three years of competitive cricket for these Zimbabwean cricketers. They need to gain the experience of winning; they need a batting and bowling role-model in their side to learn from, and that can only mean an overseas player unless Streak returns. Being plunged again into the deep end of Test cricket from November will do them vastly more harm than good.
October 23, 2006
Posted on 10/23/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
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Peter Chingoka: 'To look at him nowadays is to see a man who knows the corruption of his soul'
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| Peter Roebuck has been among the most vocal critics of Zimbabwe Cricket in the last couple of years, but his syndicated column this weekend was hard-hitting even by his standards.
In the Sydney Morning Herald he launched a stinging attack on Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, the chairman and managing director of the board, demanding that they be removed from office immediately.
It's no use waiting for the local police to act, let alone the cricket community, because these scoundrels long ago stacked the board - besides which, they have friends in high places. Chingoka will resist every attempt to launch an investigation into their activities. They know that any genuine investigation will result in long prison sentences.
Continue reading "The fish rots from the head"
September 8, 2006
Posted on 09/08/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
Peter Chingoka, the head of Zimbabwe Cricket’s interim board, in an exclusive interview with Zimbabwe’s Independent newspaper, has claimed that things were on the up despite Zimbabwe’s suspension from Test cricket.
The interview addressed all the issues dogging Chingoka - the controversial new constitution, the financial position of the board and the long-awaited forensic audit, the domestic programme and the national side.
But Chingoka skirted round many of the questions, and on closer scrutiny the answers were vague. But he did hint, as Cricinfo revealed last month, that Test cricket would not be resumed until 2007-08:
"We are working with the ICC on this issue with the aim of resuming in the 2007-08 season. In order to do this, we believe we need to play 10 to 12 unofficial three/four-day matches. The youngsters are coping with the shorter version but need more exposure to the longer version."
September 1, 2006
Posted on 09/01/2006 in Miscellaneous
In The Times, former Wisden editor Tim de Lisle highlights the fact that cricket's international merry-go-round is not only hard on the players, it's also pretty environmentally unfriendly. He recalled that while editing Wisden Cricket Monthly a few years ago, he commissioned an investigation into the mileage of top players:
"We named the first winner — Australia's Ian Healy, who had done, from memory, about 70,000 miles. Within a few years, the winner (by then Stephen Fleming, of New Zealand) was doing 100,000 miles. International cricket’s total emissions, for a relatively small sport, must be colossal."
He then points out that the English county circuit is strewn with sponsored cars flying up and down the country's motorways. And then there is Asia.
"Open an Indian magazine and the chances are you will see Sachin Tendulkar sharing a little of his personal cachet with a motorbike. And administrators in the subcontinent still think it’s OK to give the man of the match a bike or even a car. Not even the umpires are immune. Fly Emirates, say their shirts, which is demeaning to them and damaging to the planet."
August 24, 2006
Posted on 08/24/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
Peter Whalley in The Zimbabwean looks at the effect that the recent one-day series win has had inside Zimbabwe and the cases for and against the country being kicked out of international cricket because of the deteriorating political situation.
Beating Bangladesh 3-2 was a much-needed fillip to morale inside the country.
“This feel good factor is likely to be swept away when the side faces stronger opposition, but a series win over an improving Bangladesh side cannot be ignored. It would suggest that the young team does have the potential to improve as long as it can continue to have international exposure even if the return to Test cricket is delayed.”
Continue reading "Life after the leviathan"
July 4, 2006
Posted on 07/04/2006 in ICC
The ICC might like to take a leaf out of FIFA’s book – and that’s not something we ever thought would be written here. The endless protestations about not being able to get involved in domestic issues which the ICC wield like an invisibility cloak whenever anyone mentions Zimbabwe have been put into context by FIFA’s suspension of Greece because of excessive government control in the sport.
The Daily Telegraph reported that FIFA acted because the Greek government had exerted levels of interference “not in line with the principles of the FIFA statutes regarding the independence of member associations and the independence of the decision-making process of the football-governing body in each country."
Compared with the shenanigans surrounding the politiciasation of the Zimbabwe board, the Greeks are pussycats. The difference is that those who run the global game are not prepared to sit and look in the other direction.
March 24, 2006
Posted on 03/24/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
The Zimbabwe Independent interviews Zimbabwe's young captain
Terry Duffin, a man with cricket's least enviable job. Duffin has inherited a side with no experience and limited talent ... and in a month's time they head to the Caribbean to face West Indies.
"I think the two games we won we got it right in all departments. The other two games we lost we got it all wrong. It is something that we have to work hard on."
February 5, 2006
Posted on 02/05/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
In the Sunday Telegraph, Scyld Berry writes that Zimbabwe's time is now up, and the takeover of cricket by the government has left an administration who can intimidate and bully, but know little about the game of cricket:
These Zanu chaps, they know their realpolitick, even if they couldn't tell the difference between a googly and Google.
January 20, 2006
Posted on 01/20/2006 in Zimbabwe cricket
It's not just the cricket press ... the lead editorial in the Daily Telegraph in London also takes a shot at the ICC.
The ICC must intervene, but not just to ensure players are paid. It should tell Zimbabwe's tyrant that until he stops abusing human rights and democracy, his country will be barred from all international cricket. Like the United Nations, the ICC is dominated by Third World countries. These have been reluctant to take a stand against a regime that is by any objective standards as brutal as South Africa's was during its ostracism under apartheid. The ICC seems unable to see how its craven and amoral behaviour is staining cricket's name. It should grow that spine without further delay.
December 5, 2005
Posted on 12/05/2005 in Zimbabwe cricket
Steve Waugh says it's time to strip Zimbabwe of international status. Read what he has to say here.
December 2, 2005
Posted on 12/02/2005 in Zimbabwe cricket
The Zimbabwe Independent carries an interview with Themba Mliswa, the man whose threats against Tatenda Taibu's family led to his resignation as Zimbabwe captain. But while it gives him plenty of room to justify his role in Zimbabwe cricket, a few comments hint at the man behind the mask. Mliswa on Taibu:
He needs to grow up. I needed to give him brotherly advice because I thought some of the decisions he was making needed guidance. Unfortunately there was an exchange of words. Contrary to what some people think, he's an arrogant boy. Money and fame have gone to his head and he has failed to manage it.
For more on this man, it's worth Googling his name. Sift through the results - they don't make for pleasant reading. It's easy to see why Taibu went into hiding.
October 27, 2005
Posted on 10/27/2005 in Zimbabwe cricket
In Zimbabwe, the truth is not always welcome. Zimbabwe Cricket yesterday used the pro-government Herald to denounce Cricinfo’s recent reporting as being biased.
The website’s uses a correspondent who uses a pseudonym Stephen Price who has clearly taken sides with those who are rebelling against the board’s authority.
What the article, a thinly-disguised plant by the board, fails to grasp is that reporting the truth is not taking sides. It also fails to deny that the meeting and vote of no confidence referred to took place. Zimbabwe’s stakeholders are fed up with the management, and no end of media manipulation can hide that fact. This is the paper that ignored the defeats by Kenya, and neglected to mention any of the anti-board incidents which have occured in recent months.
And why does our man in Harare use a pseudonym? Because in Zimbabwe, journalists who oppose authority have an unfortunate record of being singled out for persecution. The pseudonym is not cowardice so much as self preservation.
October 24, 2005
Posted on 10/24/2005 in Zimbabwe cricket
As Zimbabwe cricket seems hell-bent on self-destruction, even the local media, who operate under strict controls, have had enough. In the Zimbabwe Independent, Darlington Majonga highlighted the frustrations of cricket lovers:
Whereas Zimbabwe's pride has been shredded on the field of play, it's the off-field politics that threaten the future of the game ... the future of Zimbabwe's game is under siege from smart hooliganism. People whose thinly veiled agenda is to sate their egos at the expense of the game have sabotaged Zimbabwe's cricket.
September 24, 2005
Posted on 09/24/2005 in Zimbabwe cricket
Peter Roebuck profiles Waddington Mwayenga - who he calls a "likeable, determined, polite, bright and athletic lad" - and goes on to lament the deeper problem surrounding cricket in Zimbabwe.
Mwayenga might have enjoyed a fairly impressive debut Test but the root of the problem persists. Roebuck writes:
What was it all about, all that fighting and posturing? ... Complacency amongst whites. Revenge amongst an angry and self-serving bunch of black administrators. Two rotten emotions that can destroy this continent as they are destroying Zimbabwean cricket. Two self-indulgences Africa cannot afford. Two wretched outlooks calculated to crush youthful idealism.
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