ZC brews a shocker!

01 Apr, 2018 - 00:04 0 Views
ZC brews a shocker!

The Sunday Mail

“WELL, that escalated rather quickly!”

That was probably the reaction of the entire Zimbabwe cricket fraternity, as news filtered through that the mother body (ZC) had cut ties with Chevron’s head coach Heath Streak and his entire coaching staff.

Tatenda Taibu and Graeme Cremer were subsequently stripped of their powers and posts as Convener of selectors and Chevrons captain respectively.

Zimbabwe A Coach Wayne James and his Under-19 were not spared either and also received the boot.

In one fell swoop, Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani and his board had supposedly “remedied” all the ills and the embarrassment caused by Zimbabwe’s three-run defeat to the UAE that all but ended the nation’s World Cup dream.

Or so it would seem!

It goes without say that Mukuhlani and company were within their rights, as custodians of the game, to yield the axe on Streak and company; though it remains to be seen how James and Mangongo fit into this equation.

Streak and company had failed in the mandate to help the team qualify for next year’s world cup.

The fans had done their part, filling up almost every stadium Zimbabwe played in during the month-long ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.

Tours in Bangladesh and Dubai-which included a triangular series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and a three-match series against Afghanistan – meant they was ample game time for the Chevrons to iron out their combinations and dust off the rust in their game.

There was also the added $40 000 qualification bonuses that ZC president was rumoured to have promised and was in the midst of negotiating with Government.

Yet, still the Chevrons failed.

The problem arises in the manner in which Mukuhlani and his board have handled the entire mess; one which has subsequently turned Streak and company into martyrs rather than the culprits they should have been.

For one is it really fair to fire someone over one failed campaign to qualify for the world cup; a tournament most doubted we would grace but held out hope that we would?

Is it fair that the rain and Duckworth-Lewis Method both conspired against the Chevrons and contribute significantly to that three-run loss to the UAE?

And is it fair to completely ignore the work Streak and company had done prior to the tournament, and raise Zimbabwe win/loss percentage to a high of 46% as compared his predecessors who averaged around 15-26% during their stints?

Most importantly, there appears to have been a clear disregard for due process in the manner in which Streak and company were relieved of their duties.

Asked to resign, via email from the Managing Director Faisal Hasnain, they were hardly given a chance to state their case.

While most of the characters involved have refused to comment, with Cremer choosing to follow procedure and wait further instructions from his paymasters, Streak has not helped matters.

“It is with great regret and shock that I was told by ZC that myself and my coaching staff must resign by 3pm today (Friday) failing which will see us fired.

“I chose NOT to resign, as I believe this to be degrading to our national players and my technical team.

“As a result, we have been dismissed with immediate effect.

“I want to thank the Zimbabwean fans, friends and family who supported us so passionately during the CWC Qualifiers.

“I have never seen such support even when I played for Zimbabwe”, said Streak when reached for comment.

His sentiments were short and really tugged on the heartstring; something completely different from ZC chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani when reached for a comment on the recent events and way forward.

“I am sorry, I will not be giving any interviews at the moment,” he said.

Mukuhlani cut the figure of a clichéd politician, quick to condemn yet hesitant to come up with solutions.

By asking Streak and company to accept responsibility, go quietly and resign, the board showed that they do have a moral compass within them, but they have simply chosen to ignore it all these years.

The Chevrons failure is not solely on certain individuals, but an institutional failure.

After all, it is the same board that hired Streak and company, and their failure is also theirs.

Simply portioning blame on Streak and company, is not something new for Zimbabwe Cricket

In the past decade ZC has fired seven coaches namely Robin Brown (2008), Walter Chawaguta (2010), Allan Butcher (2013), Andy Waller (2013), Mangongo (2014) and Dav Whatmore in 2016 and now Streak.

Yet, still things remain the same!

While all these coaches might have been said to have failed in their mandate, maybe it’s time ZC takes a hard look in the mirror.

After all, they do the hiring and maybe hiring is not their thing and it’s time to give others a chance.

What sort of environment have these coaches worked under, is another question many have been asking and ZC should start addressing.

In January Zimbabwe missed warm up matches ahead of the tri-nations series in Bangladesh, amid reports of shortage of practice balls at the team’s training sessions, non-payment of allowances and all sorts of sad tales.

The development structures are dead, with no more age-group cricket except the U19 side only which is hardly ever active.

The domestic season is characterised by on and offs, stop and start measures mainly characterised by non-payment of player allowances and salaries also coming in bits and pieces.

So in the end the ZC board has to look at themselves first if they have helped develop the game.

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