Zimbabwe Forfeit Scotland Match

[maehara]

Official statement from ZC:

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has received much media interest on what the outcome will be following Scotland's decision not to tour Zimbabwe for the scheduled International Cricket Council (ICC) Intercontinental Cup fixture against Zimbabwe XI.

Having considered the position, we have decided to forfeit the match in favour of Scotland. If it meets with the approval of the ICC, it is our recommendation that Scotland be awarded the full points for this fixture, a move that will allow for them to proceed to the final.

The Associate Members countries use this and other competitions to benchmark and track their progress, which progress is important to them. To this end we feel that the I-Cup is a significant competition in Scotland's development and therefore important that it gets the full benefits associated with playing in it. Moreover, given the limited playing opportunities available to them, it would be unnecessarily counterproductive to rob them of their right to participation or reduce their chances of reaching the final.

We accepted the invitation by the ICC to participate in this tournament and at no time did we advocate that the game be played in Zimbabwe, instead the venue of the fixture was decided by the ICC. In coming to this situation, the ICC no doubt took into full consideration the safety and security of the players - a condition which Zimbabwe fully meets with as a sporting nation. Having therefore met with these conditions, it is out of the question to consider playing our home matches anywhere else than in our own country.

While Scotland's decision not to tour has been attributed to political considerations, we as Zimbabwe Cricket are not qualified to comment on matters political of any country, nor would we want to base the future of the game of cricket on political directives. As such Zimbabwe has no dispute with either Cricket Scotland or the ICC. Instead, we seek only a solution that will ultimately allow for fair participation by all.

Our development team has nevertheless immensely enjoyed participating in this tournament and will no doubt cherish the life-long relationships that have been forged as a result. It is our strong belief that this is one of the many reasons nations play sport other than the sheer thrill of competition. It is our hope that our decision and ultimately that of the ICC, will allow for cricket to be the ultimate winner.

Our decision has been communicated to the Events Technical Committee (ETC) of the ICC which will convene on Monday 27 September to further consider the matter in light of our submission. While we await the ETC's final decision, we will not issue any further comment on this matter.

That "Spirit of Cricket" award Zimbabwe have been nominated for? They just won it right there.

[Terryalderman]

Well done Zimbabwe. It's definatly going to be more benefit to Scotland than Zim. It's a shame Scotland can't play Namibia (who were displaced from the intercontinental for Zim to take there place) as a lead in to the final. Pleasing to see progress of the game in the country and return to form of Sean Williams, the best bat in the country.

[maehara]

I did say a while back that I wouldn't rule out Scotland taking the points for this match - I just didn't expect it to happen this way..!

The ZC of two years ago would have put their foot down and made statements about it being our right to play at home, and the injustice being done by the British government's interference, etc etc etc... How times have changed. And they have done the right thing, and maybe earned a few friends, by forfeiting the match.

[Zimfanatic69]

Well they have not forfeited it yet but have offered to forfeit it " If it meets with the approval of the ICC,"

It is down to the ICC.

It is a great gesture from Zimbabwe and I am rather proud of this principled stand.

[maehara]

Well they have not forfeited it yet but have offered to forfeit it " If it meets with the approval of the ICC,"

It is down to the ICC.

Quite correct. But I would be very surprised if the ICC didn't accept the offer, as it gives them an easy get-out to an otherwise messy situation - and the ICC likes easy get-outs.

The wording of the statement, about it being in the best interests of Associate cricket / Scotland for them to play in the final, also doesn't leave the ICC with much wriggle-room - if they decided to award to points to Zimbabwe now, they'd look very out-of-touch.

[Conant]

Great gamesmanship from Zimbabwe.

Speculation:
Who penned this: Lovemore Banda or Ozias Bvute?

[Train Driver]

What a truly sportsmanlike gesture

I'm sure that it would be terribly cynical to even consider for one moment that this is a magnificently taken PR opportunity, so i guess i should apologise for being a cynic as i think this has been stage managed, cleverly i should add, from day one

No statement from Cricket Scotland yet, perhaps they're out shopping to buy Mr Bvute a thank you card

[maehara]

I'm sure that it would be terribly cynical to even consider for one moment that this is a magnificently taken PR opportunity, so i guess i should apologise for being a cynic as i think this has been stage managed, cleverly i should add, from day one

...and there was me thinking I was the resident cynic.

I don't doubt that ZC have been sitting on this press release waiting for the "right" moment to send it - thanks to yesterday's draw it doesn't affect anyone else, but if Ireland had won that wouldn't have been the case and we probably wouldn't be reading this. It's also undoubtedly good PR.

But I stand by my line that, until quite recently, ZC would never have made a "gesture" like this. Give them that much credit, at least.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I'm sure that it would be terribly cynical to even consider for one moment that this is a magnificently taken PR opportunity, so i guess i should apologise for being a cynic as i think this has been stage managed, cleverly i should add, from day one.

I agree, I think this is a tactical move rather than a sportsmanlike move. From my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong and Zimbabwe can still reach the final), Zimbabwe only have one game left to play - by forfeiting that game Scotland will play against Afghanistan in the final.

End result, Zimbabwe have not and will not lose a match in this tournament and in their two draws they have arguably been in a winning position if not for the restriction of 4 days - thus ticking all of the boxes insofar as Zimbabwe's inclusion in the Intercontinental Cup.

So I have to disagree with much of the sentiment in this thread, if Zimbabwe were serious about the development of associate cricket then they would have given Scotland the valuable experience of playing a quality opposition - on a neutral ground. I think the only reason they did not want to play on a neutral ground was the fear of setting a precedent.

[maehara]

From my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong and Zimbabwe can still reach the final), Zimbabwe only have one game left to play - by forfeiting that game Scotland will play against Afghanistan in the final.

ZimXI are currently 2nd in the table, three points ahead of Scotland.

The match against Scotland would have been the final match for both sides, and the winner of that match would have reached the final (or whoever got first-innings points in the case of a draw).

Other remaining match, Afghanistan v Kenya, can't affect who reaches the final.

EDIT: There's also money involved - there's US$100,000 for the winner of the Intercontinental Cup, US$40,000 for the runner-up, which ZC rule themselves out of winning by forfeiting. That makes this a rather expensive piece of PR, if that's all that it is.