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http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Good-Murung ... 178531131X

April 1st isn't "now".

But yes I shall be buying it

SpitfiresKent wrote:April 1st isn't "now".

But yes I shall be buying it

Already ordered it

outside of the zim cricket community who will buy this i wonder?

dont thinkthis will be topping the bestselling list, no matter how good it is.

SpitfiresKent wrote:April 1st isn't "now".

But yes I shall be buying it

forgot the "for pre-order" part in the title. Click-bait

I finally got this book and have just finished reading it. It's a fantastic read that every single person here would enjoy because it covers in such detail the really niche subject that is Zimbabwean cricket.

Each tour between West Indies 2010 and West Indies 2013 has a chapter dedicated to it and there is a lot of info about the ZC administration - some of it quite surprising (eg. Mangongo comes out very positively). If anyone has any questions things that happened in that timeframe please just post them here and I'll reference the book and see if I can find an answer for it.

Here are some of the highlights off the top of my head:

• Butcher didn't have much time for guys like Kevin Curran, Andy Waller, Alistair Campbell and other guys from the old guard whom he deemed the "professors of negativity". Always interfering
  • But admitted they did have Zim crickets best interest at heart
• (in 2010-2012 ish) We've always assumed the ZC balance of power was probably more discriminatory to white players than it actually was... there was quite a strong pro-white force in terms of the Cricket Committee at that time
• It sounds like the racial disharmony comes virtually 100% from the admin level. A lot of distrust between players and board, and the snitching goes both ways. One reference made to the black players having contacts on the board when Mangongo pumped them for info on Butchers (this sounds worse that it was... Mangongo was helping Butcher to determine if the board was trying to oust him - which apparently they were)
• Lovemore Banda comes across reasonably well in his role as team manager
  • There was reference to an incident around 2009-10 but before Butcher started (and he did say that this was second hand information from Banda), that white and black players were on different buses but there was very little info on this... got the feeling he felt it was an exaggeration
• Makoni is a real piece of work and would never get on with him in "20 lifetimes of trying", says he was behind racist selection decisions including forcing Utseya into the team over Price and then coercing Price into retirement
  • Flower threatened to not go to one game if Utseya was selected (because Makoni shifted the goalposts)
• Doesn't really have a bad word to say about Mangongo, it sounded like they had a good working relationship
  • Possibly better than his one with Grant Flower, who at the beginning of his tenure/comeback (around the time of the SA tour 2010) got stuck into the team for having a bad attitude
  • "bad attitude" was a re-occurring theme (one that Butcher did not agree with), often associated with input from the "professors"
  • Seemed to get along with Streak very well
• Seems to think ZC weren't embezzling - he saw the accounts and they were just naturally bad. Mentioned that most in the admin were good people. Bvute didn't come out as a hero (his write up matches the accounts you see elsewhere by and large), but reading this it sounds like he was doing his best for the betterment of ZC
• Selections are covered quite a lot and reasons are given for some of the more bizarre ones (Zhuwao, Mutombodzi, Mushangwe, etc).
  • But also some legitimate reasons given for some of the more curious ones... things like injuries to Vitori, etc which we were never told about

Any questions, please ask

I think Alan Butcher was a liberal.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great to understand annoutsider's perspective of our cricket. I'd like Whatmore to write about his tenure here!!

He came at an unfortunate time when wounds were still very fresh and he clearly heard a lot of racial stuff from the whites, which would not have sat well with him, plus he's married to a black lady. Unfortunately he would not have been able to follow the stuff said in the vernacular so he probably had a slightly skewed view of who was a racist and who wasn't. I think back then everyone had a lot to say on both sides.
One thing is certain and that's the coaches have always ended up at loggerheads with the board. If one doesn't I would be suspicious because they are the problem. Let's see how Streak fares. Makoni seems to be part of the furniture and he's caused much of the animosity and issues over the years.

I don't fully understand the role of an international coach. I'd say they are more managerial than coaches. There's usually a batting, bowling and fielding coach so the actual senior coach is less hands on in these departments and maybe has more to do with strategies and perhaps identifies problem areas for the other coaches to work on. If he can't select his assistants and doesn't get on with the appointed guys it must be tricky.

The reality is that there's no upside to coaching Zim. We're unlikely to improve any time soon- so if a coach (in whatever role) is looking at a career after his tenure here then his CV' is not going to look great, other than the fact that he's now coached an international team. Also ZC will keep looking for a scapegoat for poor performances and the coach is the obvious fall guy. Flower has done well after here, as has Houghton, but not sure about the others.
What is Dav Watmore doing now?

Strang has kicked on well,
And of course Duncan fletcher.