No future for white cricketers in Zimbabwe ??

[commonwombat]

Has this situation reached the point of no return ??? The administration of the game in Zimbabwe appears to have been totally hijacked by operatives of the Mugabe regime.

The Flower/Olongo issues during last years World Cup were merely the preview; it appears that the Streak impasse is the final straw for what is left of Zimbabwe's largely white cricket community.

link:http://cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/APR/123699_ZIM_13APR2004.html

[The Prototype]

Sounds like Zimbabwe cricket is heading down the road of death for cricket in Zimbabwe.

[commonwombat]

Sadly true, a tragedy for world cricket and I don't see them as the last Test playing entity to fold.

[Blanch]

Who else do you think will fold? Is it Bangladesh you are talking about?

[commonwombat]

Zimbabwe may, or may not, shrink to total irrelevance in world cricket and as someone who still has strong ties to southern Africa I sincerely hope that this may be averted.

Bangladesh is somewhat of an imposter in Test cricket and Kenya frankly has far superior claims to full intl status. It's elevation is purely due to political chicanery from prominent subcontinent cricket politicians. They are not however the entity that I see ultimately in most danger.

This will undoubtedly send CC, Joe and their likeminded into volcanic rage before they get on the line to Bin Laden to declare jihad upon wombats all over the globe. Yes, the West Indies.

My case. The Caribbean used to be a British dominated area however British influence has been steadily declining since the 50's and more and more appreciably in the past 25. Now, instead of gravitating towards Britain, they are now under the American sphere of influence.

Secondly, the West Indies exists only as a cricketing entity, nothing else. An attempt at federation in the late 50's fell apart due to sectional interests. This inter-island rivalry and conflict has been long present in WI cricket especially in off field administration but also on field, where only the likes of Frank Worrell, Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards have been able to command truly unified sides.

The economic arguement is even more telling. Most of these islands are small, nearly all are long term economically depressed and all except Jamaica and Trinidad are nigh totally reliant on the tourist dollar. Many, if not most, have at least 25% unemployment and negative population growth as many of the young seek to emigrate primarily to Nth America.

Cricket has long been virtually bankrupt in the WI and even in their glory days, the vast majority of their players based their income on o/s contracts. The WI side was constantly hawked around the cricketing world by their board to bring in much needed revenue. The once rich stream of WI talent is slowing to a trickle, with little money spent on development programs and such programs that exist disjointed.

I fear that the next cricket world cup in the West Indies may not be a success with the cricket infrastructure of the region in poor condition, less than satisfactory communication facilities and therefore the the fillip that the WI board needs may not be there. Talented players may still come out of the Caribbean but never in the numbers that were once known as the talented athletes of the region will continue to be more attracted by the dominant US culture.

WI cricket may not fold, although it may possibly splinter off into the individual nations. Time frame is hard t tell but I can see them only declining further and firther in to cricketing no-mans land and irrelevance which will be a very sad day for cricket.

[The Prototype]

The rate Zimbabwe are going they won't have much a team left, Flower, and Streak are big losses for them. And more to come if things keep going the way they are.

[commonwombat]

Further reports on the situation.

The 13 players who signed the ultimatum and declared themselves unavailable for the upcoming Sri Lankan tour have rejected the minor concession offered by the ZCU, relating to the selection committee.

Link: http://cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/APR/125484_ZIM_15APR2004.html

The ZCU has responded by naming an almost completely back squad, with Tatenda Taibu as captain with only 5 previously capped players.

link:
http://cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/APR/126197_ZIMSL2004_15APR2004.html

[The Prototype]

I heard on the news a few days ago that these players have been given a deadline, if they don't stop their strike, they will be sacked. Would be interesting to see what would happen if they actually did sack these players.

[Donny]

It's already happening, Dave.

Did you notice the Zimmers team for the first ODI against Sri Lanka ?

[commonwombat]

The number of Zimbabwe rebels have increased to 15 with 2 other white cricketers joining the ranks. There are futher reports, to date unsubstantiated, that 3 non-white players will join the rebel ranks.

Two of the 3 are reputed to be pace bowler Doug Hondo and new vice-captain Deon Ebrahim further decreasing the already low experience base remaining.

The person who I feel immense sympathy for in this schemmozle is the new captain, Tatenda Taibu. Here is the one black player who demands selection on outright talent and has impressed immensely in his short intl career. What is terribly unfair is that he has been pitchforked into the captaincy at the age of 20 in a political situation no-one should have to endure.

[Blanch]

This situation is terrible. Politicians are ruining a game. Cricket was on the up in Zim, and they were becoming more competitive. It really is sad that these events have transcended.