"The sad thing is we need the rest of the world to buy in. We need to play to progress. What's the point of not giving the Zimbabwe cricket team visas?
"Who are you getting at? Who is suffering? Are you making a stand? Are you achieving anything? No," continues Campbell. "Our domestic Twenty20 final had 10,000 people there. Harare Sports Club was full. For a domestic game. That's what our people are starved of."
The scaremongering about security concerns infuriates Campbell. "Do you honestly think we live in built-up compounds with security outside and bomb barriers? Do you think we would all live there and send our kids to school there if it was a war zone? I mean please! Let's be real about this. Just ask the Australian ambassador. He lives here, does he report back home that he drives in an armoured car and wears a bullet-proof vest? I mean, he's out playing golf every Wednesday!"
Campbell is furious with the England and Wales Cricket Board because they refused to let Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire make pre-season tours to Zimbabwe. "It is incredibly frustrating. You have these counties who want to come out here and play but because of politics they are not allowed to. They have to toe the line." His real ire though is reserved for the New Zealand cricket board, who pulled out of a one-day tour last year citing concerns over a cholera epidemic. The two teams play each other on Tuesday in a real grudge match for Zimbabwe. "Blaming the health system? That's rubbish. Be honest: It was a political issue.
... They will surprise a few in this competition. They field brilliantly and have two good spinners in Prosper Utseya and Ray Price. But their most powerful weapon may be their sense of injustice.
It makes me sick ! Lets just show the world what we're capable of through beating both Sri Lanka and New Zealand. More importantly New Zealand ! I mean come on, English county cricketers came over to Zimbabwe to play domestically in both the T20 and 4 day tournaments. The ECB and all the other boards (The ECB especially), needs to realise that all is well within Zimbabwe
