The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
FOLLOWING a High Court ruling that nullified an urgent chamber application by the suspended Zimbabwe Cricket board, the Sport and Recreation Commission are adamant the game will not suffer stagnation as it will continue under the stewardship of the interim committee put in place. The SRC have also invited the International Cricket Council to second personnel to the interim committee.
Justice Joseph Musakwa dismissed with costs an urgent chamber application by the Tavengwa Mukuhlani-led ZC, which sought to overturn the SRC’s decision to replace them with an interim board chaired by veteran administrator David Ellman-Brown.
The ICC are expected to table the Zimbabwe issue at their full board meeting on July 18.
Following Justice Musakwa’s ruling, the SRC’s statement read in part: “One of the reasons for the dismissal of the application was that there had been material non-disclosure by Tavengwa Mukuhlani and other suspended ZC directors in their court papers.
“In respect of this attempt to mislead the High Court Justice Musakwa, at page 7 of his cyclostyled judgment stated,
‘The letter of 17 June 2019 was the acting chief executive officer’s response to the directive to suspend the elective annual general meeting. The acting chief executive did not address that letter in his individual capacity. He addressed that letter on behalf of Zimbabwe Cricket and the applicants. Therefore, it cannot be said by any stretch of the imagination that the applicant’s rights to be heard was violated. It is the disclosure of these communications that the applicants have suppressed in the present application. They have clearly not been candid with the court on this aspect and this should non-suit them.’’
The Sunday Mail Sport, however, sought to find out the cricketing background of the interim committee. Below are their respective profiles.
- David Ellman-Brown (Chairman)
Ellman-Brown, born in Bulawayo and schooled at St. George’s College in Harare, is a former senior partner of Coopers & Lybrand, Zimbabwe. He has also held many directorship positions in Zimbabwe, including being chairman of Cairns Holdings Limited and Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe (a subsidiary of the Standard Bank Group).
His involvement in cricket dates back to the 1960’s when he was treasurer of the Mashonaland Cricket Association. He was also manager of the national cricket team from 1982 to 1990, including at its inaugural appearance at the 1983 World Cup.
He was president of ZC in 1992 when the country gained Test Status. Upon his retirement from Coopers & Lybrand, he became chief executive of ZC, during which period he was also a member of the ICC’s Finance Committee and its Cricket Management Committee.
In 1992 and 1993 respectively, he was made honorary life president of ZC and honorary life member of Marylebone Cricket Club in London, for his contribution to Zimbabwe Cricket.
- Retired Justice Ahmed Ebrahim, SC
Justice Ebrahim was admitted as a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, England, in 1962. He is a Senior Counsel and a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe and Swaziland.
The Judge was chairman of Universal’s Cricket Club for 20 years. He has also been a chairman of a number of football disciplinary bodies set up in Zimbabwe over the years, including one that probed match-fixing in the sport, which became popularly known as Asiagate Scandal.
Ebrahim was a member of the Mashonaland Cricket Board for five years and vice-chairman of ZC. He was a member of the ICC as Match Referee for 10 years and has represented the ICC as Match Referee in almost all Test playing countries. He was the sole Appeals Commissioner during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka in 2002 and an Appeals Commissioner during the Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2003.
From November 2017, Ebrahim was appointed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as a member of the inaugural IAAF Disciplinary Tribunal charged with safeguarding the integrity of the sport of athletics.
- Sekesai Nhokwara
Nhokwara has vast experience in education, sports leadership, administration and coaching spanning a period of over 28 years in both Zimbabwe and Uganda.
She is presently employed at the Harare International School as a head coach and coordinator. She is qualified as a National Course Director of the International Olympic Committee. Nhokwara was previously Zimbabwe Olympic Committee Development Commission chairperson and Uganda Olympic Committee Commissioner.
- Cyprian Mandenge
A former coach of the national men’s rugby side, Mandenge is also co-founder of Old Malvernians Cricket Club in Harare.
From 2002 to 2005, he was a board member of Mashonaland Cricket Board and assumed the chairmanship 10 years until 2015, during which period he was also a member of the ZC Board between 2005 and 2013. He chaired the Cricket Committee, a sub-committee of the board and was also a board member of the franchise, Mashonaland Eagles.
Cyprian is presently the Sports Director of Eaglesvale Senior School in Harare.
- Duncan Frost
An old boy of Churchill Boys High School, Frost played First Team Cricket, Rugby and Hockey for the school, before concentrating on club cricket. A knee injury forced him to stop playing whereupon he became heavily involved in the umpiring, coaching and administrative aspects of cricket.
Frost founded Badgers Cricket in Bulawayo, an organisation that assists under-privileged youth to play cricket. He sources and supplies kit to kids who cannot afford their own, all totally self-funded.
He was general manager of Cricket Operations for approximately two years at ZC before leaving for the private sector. During that period, he dealt with officials from various countries with respect to incoming tours (ODI and Tests), and also ran the First Class and List A program for ZC.
He is a member of Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, where he assists with coaching and administration in the cricket section.
- Robertson Chinyengetere
Chinyengetere is a legal practitioner with Harare firm, Matizanadzo & Warhurst.
He grew up in Masvingo Province, playing cricket at every age group level and making his First Class debut for Zimbabwe A against Bangladesh in 2006. Robertson retired from First Class cricket having played 30 games, 29 A List games and 4 T20’s.
Chinyengetere played for major clubs including Centrals, Southern Rocks and captained Masvingo and Southerns, winning the Pro40 Championships under the guidance of Monty Lynch. After moving to Harare, he founded Rainbow Cricket Club in 2012, which has produced a number of current Zimbabwe internationals.
- Charlie Robertson
Based in Kadoma, Robertson was educated at Kwekwe High School. During his youth he played for the National U/15 Fawns side, and two tournaments in the Provincial Nuffield Weeks in 1973 and 1974. He played cricket for the then Mashonaland Country Districts for over 36 years, participating in the Logan Cup for 10 years, three of which he was captain of the side. He served as Mashonaland Country Districts as a board member for 26 years, five of which he was chairman. He was elected provincial chairman of ZC, but declined a board seat until a forensic audit had been carried out.
