Do we really matter?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:01 am
Was having a chat with a mate today and he made a point which got me thinking, do we matter?
As a cricketing nation, Zim was once quite strong, on the up and looking like they would become a regular contender. Now we are nowhere near that.
The big nations don't really want to visit us for tours and they don't really want to host us either. We have no grassroots structure or development programme. We have an incompetent board that no one hold accountable. We have wasted money, squandered talent. Friends only look out for friends, and we have deep unjustified racial issues that refuse to never go away. Talent and quality are not rewarded, but rather who you know and are you willing to sell out everyone else. Our players are only able to get gigs in leagues not exactly lighting up the world stage but also because those leagues don't really have the money muscle to get in much bigger players. We can't even get a look in in the BBL, yet players from Afghanistan, Nepal and even PNG have had players in the set up. The sad thing about the BBL or even SA leagues is that we do not really have any cricket on to have an excuse to not be involved in these leagues.
I'm highlighting BBL for example, but also because I am in Aus and this was something that came up in our chat today. Zim players were not playing during the whole comp. Players of international standard were sitting on the sidelines. BBL sides were happier to sign up untested players from Afghanistan even if only for a 3 game stint than get a player who would be available for the whole comp. Quality spinners do well in the BBL, so why maybe is Cremer not considered, or even Raza who would provide the batting skills as well.
Beyond that, we went a whole summer without an International game. Everyone in the southern hemisphere was playing series. They were playing at least 2 series, and sometimes more. Zim couldn't even get 1. Are sides just no longer interested in touring Zim? Are we not of the standard they need? Perhaps they look at us and see us as inferior. Money is obviously a big issue, but a lot of teams will make something work if it means they can get meaningful cricket particularly in a world cup year.
The ICC have for a long time also known how incompetent the ZC board has been, yet they have never done any serious intervention to get things changed for the better. Zim cricket had to suffer a self imposed test exile and since their return, they have not really been regulars or shown any real progression. Odd glimpses, yes, but consistent progression and winning is the name of the game. So do the ICC really care? Or are we their 'jobbers' if you were. The side that they use to let the lower teams play against and get better. Improve their game. There is no doubt that Afghanistan, Ireland and even the likes of Scotland and UAE are looking at us and thinking that we are whipping boys and they can overtake us in the rankings. So do the ICC keep propping us up to build a narrative that they give the smaller teams a chance against a test nation and when these teams do well they can turn around and say that the sport is growing and that the smaller teams are getting better.
Within Zim, nothing is of note. No grassroots. No genuine structure. No serious ideas or any idea about the national team. No administration that genuinely cares for the team, the players, the fans, and the game. We just need to look across the border to see how having all of these in place and well run leads to success. SA has it's problems too with race, but they have produced genuine world class non white players because they have a grassroots programme. They have a proper development structure. They have a functioning domestic league. They have an administration that puts money in to the game rather than their pockets. On a side note, I'm no stranger to how Africa works, so they may be taking money in CSA but they are obviously not doing it the way ZC does. And in saying that, SA wants nothing to do with us. The last time they played us in a test, they were reluctant to do so and even asked that the test be reduced in days because they were that confident they would beat us and because they did not want their players to be overworked in a game which was not as meaningful. They were right. They smashed us and made us look silly.
So do we really matter? Outside of the hardcore fans such as us, do we really matter? Perhaps we should just accept that the glory days will never ever return and we are destined to a fate similar to Kenya. Lost to the wilderness and never to be talked or cared about again?
As a cricketing nation, Zim was once quite strong, on the up and looking like they would become a regular contender. Now we are nowhere near that.
The big nations don't really want to visit us for tours and they don't really want to host us either. We have no grassroots structure or development programme. We have an incompetent board that no one hold accountable. We have wasted money, squandered talent. Friends only look out for friends, and we have deep unjustified racial issues that refuse to never go away. Talent and quality are not rewarded, but rather who you know and are you willing to sell out everyone else. Our players are only able to get gigs in leagues not exactly lighting up the world stage but also because those leagues don't really have the money muscle to get in much bigger players. We can't even get a look in in the BBL, yet players from Afghanistan, Nepal and even PNG have had players in the set up. The sad thing about the BBL or even SA leagues is that we do not really have any cricket on to have an excuse to not be involved in these leagues.
I'm highlighting BBL for example, but also because I am in Aus and this was something that came up in our chat today. Zim players were not playing during the whole comp. Players of international standard were sitting on the sidelines. BBL sides were happier to sign up untested players from Afghanistan even if only for a 3 game stint than get a player who would be available for the whole comp. Quality spinners do well in the BBL, so why maybe is Cremer not considered, or even Raza who would provide the batting skills as well.
Beyond that, we went a whole summer without an International game. Everyone in the southern hemisphere was playing series. They were playing at least 2 series, and sometimes more. Zim couldn't even get 1. Are sides just no longer interested in touring Zim? Are we not of the standard they need? Perhaps they look at us and see us as inferior. Money is obviously a big issue, but a lot of teams will make something work if it means they can get meaningful cricket particularly in a world cup year.
The ICC have for a long time also known how incompetent the ZC board has been, yet they have never done any serious intervention to get things changed for the better. Zim cricket had to suffer a self imposed test exile and since their return, they have not really been regulars or shown any real progression. Odd glimpses, yes, but consistent progression and winning is the name of the game. So do the ICC really care? Or are we their 'jobbers' if you were. The side that they use to let the lower teams play against and get better. Improve their game. There is no doubt that Afghanistan, Ireland and even the likes of Scotland and UAE are looking at us and thinking that we are whipping boys and they can overtake us in the rankings. So do the ICC keep propping us up to build a narrative that they give the smaller teams a chance against a test nation and when these teams do well they can turn around and say that the sport is growing and that the smaller teams are getting better.
Within Zim, nothing is of note. No grassroots. No genuine structure. No serious ideas or any idea about the national team. No administration that genuinely cares for the team, the players, the fans, and the game. We just need to look across the border to see how having all of these in place and well run leads to success. SA has it's problems too with race, but they have produced genuine world class non white players because they have a grassroots programme. They have a proper development structure. They have a functioning domestic league. They have an administration that puts money in to the game rather than their pockets. On a side note, I'm no stranger to how Africa works, so they may be taking money in CSA but they are obviously not doing it the way ZC does. And in saying that, SA wants nothing to do with us. The last time they played us in a test, they were reluctant to do so and even asked that the test be reduced in days because they were that confident they would beat us and because they did not want their players to be overworked in a game which was not as meaningful. They were right. They smashed us and made us look silly.
So do we really matter? Outside of the hardcore fans such as us, do we really matter? Perhaps we should just accept that the glory days will never ever return and we are destined to a fate similar to Kenya. Lost to the wilderness and never to be talked or cared about again?