Zim Cricket Board Should Have Been Fired, Not The Coaches: David Coltart

It now seems clear to me that if anybody needs to be dismissed from their positions it is the Board members of Zimbabwe Cricket. Whilst I have been prepared to give credit where it has been due I have held deep reservations about the competence of successive Boards for many years. It is now clear to me that the current Board is just as bad as the previous Boards responsible for the near total destruction of Zimbabwe Cricket. I have listened closely to the views of many and I believe that the current Zimbabwe Cricket Board should be suspended by the Sports and Recreation Board in terms of section 30(c)(i) of the Sports and Recreation Commission Act (Chapter 25:15) for “conducting itself in a manner which is contrary to the national interest”, for the following reasons:

1. Failure to represent Zimbabwe’s interests before the ICC

The decision of the ICC to restrict the World Cup to 10 teams represents a failure by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board to adequately represent the interests of Zimbabwe Cricket before the ICC. A more competent and credible Board would have lobbied nations such as India more effectively to prevent this decision from happening. A more effective Board would have built coalitions with other nations to form an effective block to counter this decision. In contrast, the Zimbabwe Board put up a pitiful fight and remained mute. The reality is that previous Boards and the current one are in such bad standing before the ICC, because of their incompetence and corruption, that they hold very little clout now before the ICC. This would not have been the case if the Board had been comprised of competent people with a strong track record in cricket administration and play.

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2. Failure to ensure that the World Cup qualifier would be organized more efficiently and in accordance with current international standards.

The failure by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board to insist on the use of DRS, a panel of more experienced umpires and the provision of reserve days, constitutes a serious error on its part. The Board has criticized the selectors and coaching staff for the loss against UAE but the fact remains that had the Zimbabwe/UAE match been rained off Zimbabwe would still have failed to qualify – and that would solely have been the Board’s fault. Likewise, the Board’s failure to insist on better umpiring and DRS being used resulted in Zimbabwe’s narrow loss to the West Indies. Had Masakadza been able to contest his dismissal and had Raza not been given out in the manner he was Zimbabwe would have in all probability have won that match. It beggars belief that a Board with cricketing experience would have agreed to the conditions the Zimbabwe Cricket Board did as hosts of the World Cup qualifiers. Aside from anything else knowing as hosts the high probability or rain in Harare in February/ March the Board showed gross dereliction of duty in not insisting on reserve days.

3. Gross mismanagement of the financial and administrative affairs of Zimbabwe Cricket

A little known fact is that on the 27th February 2018, just 5 days before Zimbabwe’s opening match against Nepal, Zimbabwe Cricket’s Head of Human Resources Nesta Vaki wrote to all staff, including the players to announce that due to “ongoing cash flow challenges” staff, including players , would only be paid 40% of their net salaries. A copy of that letter is attached on my Facebook profile. On receipt of this news Streak, convinced that it would undermine the morale of his players, urgently discussed the matter with the Zimbabwe Cricket CEO and the Chairman. Streak advised that he was prepared to take the cut himself but insisted that the players be paid. Eventually, the Board relented and the players were paid. Streak, however, was only paid 40% of his salary.

When the ICC personnel released daily allowances in new US$100 bills cash to all the sides who qualified for the Super 6 round, the Zimbabwe team received their allowances by means of RTGS bank transfers into their bank accounts. When the players realised that all the other teams had been paid in US$100 bills they protested. ZC responded by paying them $450 each in old tatty US$ 5 bills. When some senior players and staff questioned this with ZC authorities they said the cash crisis was to blame, without explaining what had happened to the original US$100 bills paid to Zimbabwe Cricket by the ICC. It seems clear that the Zimbabwe Cricket management retained the new US$100 bills for themselves, unlike the other teams who respected their players. This affected the morale of the team when they realised how they were treated in comparison to the other teams by their own Board.

The Zimbabwe team ran short of cricket balls to train with during the qualifiers and had to make plans to try and source balls through other channels to see them through. The coaching staff had to borrow balls from Ben Lever of the ICC because of the failure by the Board to supply them with this basic equipment.

Generous bonuses were “promised” to the players and staff for qualification yet no figure was put in writing by the Board despite several efforts and requests to get this done. The coaching staff were advised that the CEO and Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket were authorized to finalise the bonus. The CEO was asked prior to the Super 6 stage what was happening regarding the bonuses but was told that the Board would have to approve that issue, contradicting the earlier promises.

Before the injection of the $1.3 million by the ICC to run the qualifier tournament the last time ZC bought equipment for the ground preparation needs at Harare Sports Club and Queens, such as mowers and rollers, was in 2003 when the ICC injected money to then co-host the cricket World Cup. Due to gross incompetence, some of the equipment purchased for the qualifiers could not be utilized because of the Board’s failure to pay for duty. In fact, motorized super soppers, which could have helped the match against the UAE, were still sitting at customs in Beitbridge because of this incompetence. The excess water had to be slowly mopped up manually which in turn made for a more difficult Duckworth Lewis target. Given that Zimbabwe only fell short of the revised target against UAE by 4 runs this failure alone by the Board resulted in Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify.

For years now ZC have blamed their financial situation for all their shortfalls yet none of the successive Boards, including the current administration, in this time have taken any positive steps to rectify the situation. ZC receive millions from the ICC on a 7-year cycle while unions such as Scotland and UAE receive considerably less yet have arguably better structures in place. Ireland, now a test playing nation, still receives a quarter of the amount Zimbabwe cricket does per cycle yet their lowest paid contracted player is on £60000 per year in comparison to $16000 for junior nationally contracted Zimbabwe players, while coaching staff in other test and associate nations receive three to four times the remuneration of Zimbabwe’s high-performance coaching team. In contrast, many administrative officials in ZC receive salaries way in excess of what their counterparts in commerce in Zimbabwe receive. Indeed many administrative officials receive way in excess of some national players.

The internal administration of the cricket has all but broken down. It is a prerequisite of the ICC for members to play 1st Class, List A and T20 competitions to get ICC disbursements. Zimbabwe Cricket has not organized any T20 competition for 2 years and this season none of our 3 competitions, including the Logan Cup, will be completed. Aside from the devastating impact that has on the standard of play in Zimbabwe it further risks the loss of ICC funds.

Support for schools and cricket development has all but dried up. Schools such as Milton, Prince Edward and Churchill, which used to receive substantial support from ZC, have seen that support dwindle. If it were not for the growing passion for the game amongst the public cricket would, in fact, be a dying game in Zimbabwe., because of the current Board’s failure to invest in the future.

It seems as if Zimbabwe Cricket is now facing worse financial turmoil than ever before. The national players have recently been told by management that they will not receive their salaries for March. In the same communication, they have been told that the Board is “trying to raise funding” and they are hopeful that the crisis may “ease in June”. Clearly, there is need for an urgent audit to be conducted by the SRC to establish what the actual financial state of Zimbabwe Cricket is.

4. None of the current Zimbabwe Cricket Board have played 1st class cricket.

Many of the poor decisions taken by the Board stem from the fact that the Board members themselves have never played cricket at any high level and so they lack a fundamental understanding of the game. This is demonstrated in their decision to fire the entire coaching staff in one fell swoop. That is unprecedented amongst test playing nations throughout the world and would be unthinkable in most nations. It shows that the Board itself has no understanding of the personal relationships built up between players and coaching team and of the devastating impact this has on players.

This lack of understanding of the game is also demonstrated in the Board’s failure to insist on DRS and reserve days for the qualifying tournament. The Board’s apparent failure to complain about the shockingly poor standard of umpiring throughout the qualifying tournament is also indicative of an administration that simply doesn’t understand the game.

The Board’s failure to understand how the dismissal of Streak and Taibu has affected players’ morale is a further indication of how little they understand the game. The players have great confidence in these two Zimbabweans patriots because they know they have deep-rooted experience of the unique pressures of the modern game of cricket and what it means to play for Zimbabwe. This element is simply lost on a Board which doesn’t have this experience.

5. The current Board clearly does not enjoy the support of sponsors

It remains a harsh reality that the current Board is held in such low regard by the business community in Zimbabwe and internationally that it has failed to obtain a single sponsor to inject cash into the system. For all the hoopla around PPC sponsorship, the fact remains that none of that sponsorship will come in cash but rather in the construction of concrete nets. A local company that was allegedly prepared to invest some US$125,000 before the qualifiers had not heard back from the Board prior to the qualifiers so that potential sponsorship has been lost.

6. The current system of election to the Board is opaque and excludes minorities

One of the reasons why the Board is comprised of people who have little passion for, or experience of, cricket is because of the opaque system for election to the Board which perpetuates the tenure of a clique who are driven by self-interest, rather than national interest. The Government needs to review Zimbabwe Cricket’s constitution to ensure that any new Board is comprised of people of all races who have a demonstrable experience either in playing cricket or the administration of cricket.

7. The current decision of the Board to sack Streak and Taibu may irreparably damage cricket in Zimbabwe

What is not in the public domain is the fact that the entire current national team opposes the decision taken by the Board. I have it on exceptionally good and reliable authority that the team is appalled by this decision. We are now in grave danger not only of undermining the morale of the current crop of national players but also of losing some of our key players. If this decision results in a similar loss of experience as happened in 2004 Zimbabwe cricket may never recover and we may go the same way Kenya went and become just another second-class cricketing nation. The resultant loss of income, national profile and national pride will be completely against our national interest. Conversely, if cricket grows as it should it will be the source of foreign exchange and a livelihood for thousands in the years to come. Our economy cannot afford the collapse of yet another once vibrant sector.

….As can be shown above there are numerous and adequate grounds for the SRC Board to suspend the entire Zimbabwe Cricket Board as a matter of urgency. It will then be up to the Minister of Sport to act in terms of section 30(2) of the SRC Act to appoint a committee to administer the affairs of Zimbabwe Cricket pending the rewriting of its constitution and the election of a new Board which will efficiently take Zimbabwe Cricket forward.

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Also Read,

Streak Speaks On Dismissal Of Entire Coaching Staff By Zimbabwe Cricket

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More: Read The Full Statement Here