The world according to Prosper, by Tristan Holme

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I see a lot of writing and a lot of bolded words - and the word "Wrong!" - but I don't actually see you explain anywhere which part of what I said was wrong.

[foreignfield]

If we are only talking cricket, the language is certainly not the biggest problem facing this team, but i agree that is not a unifying factor, rather to the contrary. Quite a few Shona speakers clearly struggle with English while most English speakers struggle with Shona (or are ignorant of it). This makes for imperfect communication at best. It means that team mates are not seeing eye to eye. It means that communication between coaches and players and within the coaching group itself can suffer in quality. How is Kamungozi supposed to pour out his heart to a English speaking coach, how should Taylor develop a close working relationship with Mangongo?

The challenge is to build a team culture that transcends these barriers. It is not easy and turning this into a blame game is not the way forward. It's also futile to employ a coach solely on the basis that he can give the players a mouthful in Shona.

A head coach from abroad is not the worst option in these circumstances. But it would be even better to have a local coach of integrity who has everybody's respect and can act as an integrating force -- (dare I whisper it, Andy Flower after his experiences in England gave him a fresh perspective on what went on in his time, could be that man in other circumstances). In the absence of that you need some of the senior players to stand up and act in that capacity instead of trying to divide the players à la Utseya: Hamilton is someone I see as an integrating figure even if he is not the most demonstrative person. Vusi's fight with his batting demons' probably keeps him from playing the role he should be playing witin the team. Williams is also someone whose personality I like. It is a shame that Tino Mawoyo is nowhere near the side at the moment. But in the end it is down to every single player to make this team a better team.

[AngusBeef]

those refusing to learn mother tongues of the land, of the majority, hence zero integration and constant divisions.[/b] Many of those players wouldn't hesitate to mster French or Italian if they were living Paris & Rome where you can survive in English. Why refuse to do it in Harare(Shona) or Durban(Zulu)

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, including English, so I would argue speaking English is speaking the mother tongue. How is acknowledging one has a preference in a certain community (in this case the cricket community) any worse than what you have done labelling 'Harare(Shona) or Durban(Zulu)' ?

[bavuma_rabada]

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, including English, so I would argue speaking English is speaking the mother tongue. How is acknowledging one has a preference in a certain community (in this case the cricket community) any worse than what you have done labelling 'Harare(Shona) or Durban(Zulu)' ?

[ZIMDOGGY]

Maybe Heath Streak is the best coach then, doesnt he speak both Shona and English?
Or was it Ndebele?

[bavuma_rabada]

Maybe Heath Streak is the best coach then, doesnt he speak both Shona and English?
Or was it Ndebele?

Heath Streak was fired for being a cancer in the team. Houghton, AC, Butcher & Grant ganged up on him.

[ZIMDOGGY]

How do you know?

[jaybro]

Maybe Heath Streak is the best coach then, doesnt he speak both Shona and English?
Or was it Ndebele?

Heath Streak was fired for being a cancer in the team. Houghton, AC, Butcher & Grant ganged up on him.

How do you know?

He probably just made that up in his mind as well .....

[sloandog]

Streak certainly got rid of some of the cancer within the set up as Hhm says, as he brought a lot of professionalism with him, not mention a wealth of experience and knowledge. To think he's doing wonders for Bangladesh

[bavuma_rabada]

How do you know?

He probably just made that up in his mind as well .....

Streak certainly got rid of some of the cancer within the set up as Hhm says, as he brought a lot of professionalism with him, not mention a wealth of experience and knowledge. To think he's doing wonders for Bangladesh

Ervine takes swing at ZC over Flower, Streak

BATSMAN Sean Ervine has waded into the war over the omission of Heath Streak and Grant Flower for this month’s West Indies tour, saying Zimbabwe Cricket is digging itself into a hole.

Ervine used his Twitter account on Thursday to criticise Zimbabwe Cricket, joining skipper Brendan Taylor who has already voiced his disquiet over the move.

He said: “If Zim Cricket keep doing the things they doing, players who are making a name for themselves around the world will leave!

“Zim have improved since the likes of Streak & Flower have been involved. You are digging a big hole for yourself and there is only one.

“Organisation to blame when it goes underground! I feel for the players who are involved as their games will not improve. Enough said!”

Taylor has labelled it a "step in the wrong direction" that coaching support staff will not travel with the team to the Caribbean.

ZC spokesperson Shingai Ruhwaya has insisted that the decision to drop Streak, Flower and fitness trainer Lorraine Chivandire was taken after consultations with the team, including Taylor.

She said: “The decision is based on recommendations made by the Cricket Committee (Alistair Campbell, Dave Houghton, Cyprian Mandenge, the late Kevin Curran and Freddy Kapuya) in November last year.

“They made these recommendations after consultations with senior players and coaches following Zimbabwe's poor performance at the ICC T20 World Cup.

“Those players who were present, and these include the captain, Brendan Taylor, were in agreement that the team was not pulling in the same direction, that they were getting conflicting instructions, that the coaching staff has differences and that the coaching staff is too big.”

But Taylor has come out to suggest he was not part of the decision.

Taylor is particularly worried about the absence of Flower, who was playing with the team until September 2010, and has since been in charge of training the batsmen.

Flower's dedication and experience, Taylor said, will be missed on the tour.

He blasted: "We will never have a guy like Grant Flower ever again as a batting coach and this is how he is being treated! His work ethic is second to none. He is qualified as a level 4 coach (can't get any higher).

“I recall times where he has thrown to the guys from 9AM through to 5PM for weeks on end. You might say that is his job, but no one will do it better.

"The bit of success that myself and others have had over the past couple of years, I put that down to Grant Flower. People are saying the preparation should have been done prior to the tour, that's correct. But preparation on tour is vital too, let alone their knowledge, advice and their experience that could be shared on a daily basis."

Taylor sorry over Zimbabwe Cricket criticism

ZIMBABWE cricket team captain Brendan Taylor has apologised to Zimbabwe Cricket after a public outburst following the omission of specialist coaches Grant Flower and Heath Streak from the tour of the West Indies.

The two coaches and fitness trainer, Lorraine Chivandire, will not travel to the Caribbean next week.

Taylor had been threatened with disciplinary action after he took to Facebook to criticise Zimbabwe Cricket.

“I have noted that the comments I posted last week, were made in the heat of the moment, ref. the decision made by the ZC board to leave Grant, Heath and Lorraine out of the touring West Indies squad. This was really not my intention,” he said on Thursday.

“I now appreciate that Facebook was not the right platform to air my concerns and I have since spoken to the Managing Director of ZC and apologised.

“Seeing, however, that my initial comments were made here on FB, we both agreed that it was only fair to then alert my followers and other people who had picked up my comment that the issue has been resolved.

“The point is that while I may not be happy that Grant, Heath and Lorraine are not going with the team to the West Indies, I now am better informed as to how the decision was arrived at and that the recommendation which the Cricket Committee made to the ZC Board and which the board then adopted as policy, was actually based on what had been discussed in general terms, in a meeting with the committee last year.

“I remain committed to ZC, and look forward to leading the side to the West Indies. I am happy that I have had this time in the Bangladesh Premier League to continue with my preparations!”

Zimbabwe will play three ODIs, two Twenty20s and two Tests against the West Indies.