Shoegate?

[Tinah09]

Right, so apparently all members of the squad received full kit and trainers. 7 'poor' players received an extra pair of playing boots because their own were in 'poor condition'. All the white lads plus captain Bawa didn't receive. ZC are saying it was based on wealth and equipment quality, not race. Not sure I believe them but whatever.

Doesn't make sense, as some of those black kids are from very wealthy families too.

zimfan1, I see you've deleted your twitter. Was there a pile on from 'Frank' and the usuals?

This makes it even worse. What’s with ZC and this poverty, perpetual pity party, don’t they get sizeable annual grants and stipends from the ICC? Is it too much to get two pairs of good shoes per player? It’s not like they cost millions!! just because a kid comes from a really ch family, it doesn’t mean that they are well resourced, plus your parents money isn’t necessarily your money. What the hell is wrong with the suits at ZC?? It’s no wonder these kids disappear as soon as the tournament is over, if the clowns in admin can’t provide basic necessities, what are the chances that you’ll get a consistent salary and adequate professional development support?. Our participation in the U19 World Cup is already going if the rails before the tournament starts 1. Covid-19 2. Coach Prosper is pre-emptively dolling out a barrage of excuses and whining about this and that 3. The stingy, penny-pinching fools in admin are refusing to buy basic equipment like shoes for the boys

[ZIMDOGGY]

From a recruitment and retention standpoint it’s ridiculous
Again, who can say anything about a families finances ?

What’s next
“Yo Blessing, you’re getting a lot of good T20s contacts lately. We are going to reduce your pay to top up Maruma who doesn’t get those gigs’.

[ZIMDOGGY]

300 bucks for this retention and PR disaster.
Well done ZC.
Absolutely flops.

Who has cricinfo journo details?

[secretzimbo]

Right. From a friend of a friend of a friend, this appears to be the general gist of what happened according to someone in ZC;


- ZC provided 1 pair of sponsored boots to around 20 or so U19 players a month or so back. All of those that were in contention for selection at the time, white and black.

- Those selected in the final squad were this week asked to bring along their own additional spare pairs of playing shoes for the world cup.

- Some players turned up with spare shoes in a terrible 'unplayable' condition.

- ZC procured additional shoes for I believe six black players in the 15-man squad.

- The other players - 7 white, plus Captain Bawa and one other unnamed black - were aggrieved/jealous, believing they should receive equal amounts of gear.

- The issue has now been 'resolved' after a 'misunderstanding'. The team are 'united and motivated'.

Idk if this is someone just spinning to save face, but yeah.

[Googly]

Well even the senior side had an issue with boots. On the cringeworthy scale that redlines at 10 if senior players of a full member nation are complaining about the footwear.
Now the u19's also faced a boot issue. It's hard for that to sink in actually. We are a full member nation ffs.
If you're going to decide that only the poorer players receive extra kit are they supposed to be grateful, or pissed off and embarrassed that their parents' financial predicament has been brought to attention? That's a fine line isn't it. If you want to generate mixed feelings, and possibly some division you couldn't find a better way.
And how do you assess who can afford what? Just because a player has shit kit it doesn't necessarily mean the parents can't afford it, maybe there's expectation from the parents as well? And vice versa- maybe a parent buys their kid nice stuff and they actually had to sell something to do so because they're proud of their kid making a national side.
There's ICC cash available for these u19's and in view of the fact that they clearly barely spent a cent on them you'd think they would have stumped up for boots, helmets and possibly bats. If a kid has got shit boots believe me he's wielding a plank.
It's embarrassingly poor.

[Tinah09]

From a recruitment and retention standpoint it’s ridiculous
Again, who can say anything about a families finances ?

What’s next
“Yo Blessing, you’re getting a lot of good T20s contacts lately. We are going to reduce your pay to top up Maruma who doesn’t get those gigs’.

[TapsC2]

Not a good start

[jaybro]

Storm in a tea cup situation here it seems,
Although anything can become a big issue in Zim with the white/ black issue always ready to explode

[ZIMDOGGY]

Storm in a tea cup situation here it seems,
Although anything can become a big issue in Zim with the white/ black issue always ready to explode

Is it?
ZC officials decided white peoples are too rich to need shoes.

[jaybro]

Is it?
ZC officials decided white peoples are too rich to need shoes.

Everyone got shoes though,

It was just the kids who needed a second pair got it, the ones who didn’t well didn’t

I guess the issue is that the white kids were the ones who could afford their own pair, I assume this wouldn’t have been an issue if they were all the same colour skin