The Sunday Mail
The Art of Sport
Arthur Choga
THE recent decision by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to restructure its coaching departments has brought relief to fans of the game.
Just in case you have not been following closely, cricket has become one of the most supported sports in the country.
However, fans were left disappointed after recent failures to qualify for key tournaments.
Zimbabwe cricket has taken fans through the wringer in recent years, swinging from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
Each dramatic high point has been quickly followed by an inexplicable low.
So, ZC has made a brave and strategic decision to take action.
Often, when a national team does not do as well as expected, the head coach is dropped.
In some cases, players are removed from the national team roster and stop being a part of the national game.
But rarely does action extend to the administration of the game.
The most admirable part of this whole process is that it has been largely internally driven by the desire to improve performance of the game and maintain the positive brand of the sport.
All sports codes can learn from this approach by ZC.
Sometimes players on the pitch are not the only ones responsible for the losses.
Many fans of English Premier League side Manchester United will point to the leadership of the Glazer family as one of the reasons the team has floundered dramatically for the greater part of the last decade.
Many managers have come and gone but the team has failed miserably to establish any type of momentum for a title challenge.
The ZC board appointed a three-member committee, headed by Harare lawyer Lloyd Mhishi, which went on a fact-finding mission and presented a report.
The board adopted the report “in its entirety”, including the committee’s findings and recommendations.
The major recommendations are:
To restructure ZC’s Cricket Affairs Department and its personnel;
To restructure ZC’s domestic and development pathway;
To advertise the head coach positions for the Zimbabwe senior men’s national team and the Zimbabwe Under-19 men’s national team;
To restructure the coaching setup at first-class level;
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To establish a national academy; and
To set up indoor training facilities in all the five first-class provinces.
It is pleasing that the issue of a national academy and establishment of appropriate training facilities have come up, as these are issues we have constantly written about.
Cricket has already covered considerable ground in setting up facilities across the country and creating opportunities for young people to join the sport.
It has faced its fair share of controversy (allegations of match fixing), tragedy (death of a beloved former captain), allegations of racism in the 1990s, allegations of favouritism in team selection and the use of “recreational drugs”, among other things.
Legendary player and coach Dave Houghton stepped down after one too many defeats in the quest for glory.
They played well in the early stages of his reign as the team qualified for the World T20 Cup (2022).
The team played well in the early rounds of that tournament and posted a famous victory over Pakistan before fading away.
The pattern would repeat itself in the World Cup qualifiers in June and July last year.
Zimbabwe blazed through the group stages unbeaten and qualified for the Super Six, where they beat Oman to get people excited, then lost to Sri Lanka and Scotland.
In his resignation, Houghton said, among other things, he had “lost the changing
room”.
This line is usually used by coaches to mean they feel there is greater influence on the players from outside the technical team or that the players have now assumed greater authority than the coach, again with support from elsewhere in the structures.
Cricket has built its brand as a sport that people can come and support in large numbers with their families.
It has created a global society of appreciative fans who will come for the atmosphere at the Harare Sports Club and other venues.
The response by ZC should serve as a lesson for other sports on how to respond to a crisis, as well as how to take decisive action to remedy a situation.
It shows the sport is committed to making a mark on the global stage.
There is much to learn from their approach.
While it may not work for every sport for different reasons, there are insights that can and should be gleaned from these actions.
Well played to them.
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