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"How do we build a cricketing nation that is consistently capable of winning?"

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:49 pm
by Bulawayo Boy
Simple question. "How do we build a cricketing nation that is consistently capable of winning?"

It's a simple question but it doesn't have a simple answer. I'd like to hear your thoughts, but to kick us off, a few of mine, if I may:

Observations (Negative)
  • Not enough people in Zim play or watch cricket.
    Not enough schools in Zim offer cricket to their students.
    There is no plan in place to expand cricket participation and sustain that expansion.
    Media coverage is insufficient.
    Getting into the game is expensive, especially as our Economy has flat lined.
    We never seem to produce any REALLY fast seamers. Why?
    We are a famously divided country - either by tribe, race, region , money, etc.
    We do not play enough international cricket. How do we remedy that?
    We a "net exporter" of cricket talent, and never do what the Aussies and Poms do i.e. take on foreign-born players.
    Our FC structure is too small.
    Our coaching systems seem haphazard and poorly organised.
    We are the opposite of the Aussies - we are programmed to LOSE, not win.
Observations (Positive)
  • We have a long and rich cricket history, dating back to the 1890s.
    Our international grounds are actually not terrible, although they need some upgrading.
    Our "sports club" structure is not too bad and could act as a talent "green house" if properly utilised.
    We have some history of giving the big boys a bloody nose (see '83 world cup, 99 world cup etc.)
    We have good cricket players coming out of the private school system as well as some "talent hubs" such as Highfield. How do we replicate that across the country?
    Our cricket administration is improving - slightly.
    Funding seems slightly improved.
    Corruption seems down.
    With 2 new Test nations we could play a lot more test cricket! Or ODIs! Or T20s!
    Pakistan is desperate to play cricket at home - we could make it an annual event to play them, play a great team every year AND boost our coffers.
    Great strides have been made in the fields of sports psychology - perhaps this can be used to re-programme a winning mentality!