[ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Participate in discussion with your fellow Zimbabwe cricket fans!

Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Yes
7
32%
No
15
68%
 
Total votes: 22

Googly
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by Googly »

It’s absolutely wrong that you’d want to be on a sporting board unless you had a genuine and knowledgeable interest in the game and/or had a genuine skill that would be of use, such as law or accounting, or you were someone of real influence.

ZIMDOGGY
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by ZIMDOGGY »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:
Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:38 am
The problem isn't that we can't find the next Flower or even the next Taylor, it's that we can't find the next Masakadza or Taibu.
Just revisiting this quote.

Not only do we not have the setup for another Taylor or Flower (either bro) as you've rightly pointed out, if we could theoretically get another Taibu or Hammy, which at this stage is a long shot, then the truth is that player will disappear as soon as he is wanted elsewhere.

Look at Blessing. Took a bargain basement contract in England as soon as he had the chance. And he is someone that got as far as the national team. Most are long gone before we hear about them.
If not for a few select members of the forum reminding us, would we have even remembered Welch or Byroms existence?
How many here will know the name Adam Rouse without googling? Give a hint, he's exactly the type of person who I'm talking about. And he's at a higher level, imagine the ones that aren't?
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Mueddie28
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by Mueddie28 »

Googly wrote:
Sun Jun 23, 2019 7:39 pm
I don’t know any of them, which means they probably don’t have a cricketing background or even have an interest in the game. I’d think they’re mostly yes men (and woman). Im not even sure what they do, business-wise. It’s possible they’re successful and I’m assuming have some sort of qualifications because that’s a requirement.
David Ellman-Brown, Ahmed Ibrahim, Charlie Robertson, Cyprian Mandenge, Robertson Chinyengetere, Sekesai Nhokwara and Duncan Frost have been announced as an interim committee to run cricket in the country.

While Ellman-Brown is a highly respected former board chief executive and Ibrahim a former board vice-chairman and ICC match referee, the others in the interim committee also have extensive experience in either sports administration or as professional cricketers or umpires themselves.

The SRC's move came a week after it issued a directive that ZC's elective annual general meeting be suspended, alleging complaints about the nomination process and the violation of ZC's constitution, as well as "various other controversies".

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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by brmtaylor.com admin »

Given we're probably going to get whitewashed by Ireland now, does anyone wish to change their vote? :(

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zimbos_05
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by zimbos_05 »

The problem with a board led academy is that it has to be run by the current board, who are completely useless. They wouldn't know a whale if it hit them in the face.

To run an academy requires quite a bit of work and ensuring you have the right people in place doing the right thing. The guys who brought cricket to Zim were essentially farmers who played it part time, but they were talented and hard workers, not really on the professional level of any of the other countries. They wanted to win. The guys now just want to get a pay cheque and bugger off, regardless of result. Their professionalism is very very questionable.

The current board would see the academy as another way to siphon money. Take it for themselves rather than invest it correctly. This is why all these individual academies are propping up. The problem with them is that there is no stream to get players in to the set up. If all these academies were brought under one umbrella, but allowed to run as they currently do, then ZC would not have to put in the effort to create their own.

Players going through these academies will train and play, and then leave once school is over. At this stage it is more about giving the guys somewhere to play and train and if someone shows natural talent, then they will take it. There seems to be no desire to nurture talent and put in the effort to develop talent. It seems ZC only acknowledge the AC academy and give them some time of day.

Cricket can no longer be treated as a past time, it is to be treated as a professional environment. If players are serious, then the academies need to be too.

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kudet
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by kudet »

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featu ... 35321.html

Harare, Zimbabwe - When aircraft engineer Gerald Makota left his job in Abu Dhabi for another in Ireland last January, he was excited at the prospect of flying into England to watch his native Zimbabwe at the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

The 32-year-old Makota grew up playing cricket in Mutare, his hometown in Zimbabwe. He had already saved up for the trip before the qualification rounds had finished.

Zimbabwe had played in every edition of the ICC World Cup since 1983 and Makota didn't see anything changing.

But when the World Cup opened in England end of May, it was a depressing reminder for Makota that Zimbabwe had missed out on qualification.

"I dropped all my plans to be in England when we failed to score those crucial three runs versus the UAE [in the must-win qualifier]," Makota told Al Jazeera from the Irish town of Shannon.

"It's a bitter pill to swallow that this will be the first time in my life not seeing Zimbabwe at the World Cup. That the failure to qualify leaves a massive dent on the game in our country. The huge financial rewards that come with participation will deprive the game in Zimbabwe of oxygen."

Prior to this tournament in England, Zimbabwe qualified directly for the World Cup since the 1999 edition by virtue of being a Test-playing nation.

Facts chete. Imagine Zimbabwe fighting with Qatar, UAE Nepal et al to qualify for a Cricket World Cup yet we want to say Zimbabwe nywe nywe. People have to wake up and realise that Zimbabwe has been bad for a long time.

— Protesting Graduate🇿🇼 🇿🇼 (@TKMRushwaya) May 28, 2019
But with this year's tournament being reduced to a 10-team competition, a qualification system involving the lowest-placed teams on the rankings table and the second-tier sides of international cricket was introduced.

For Gary Brent, the bowler who played for Zimbabwe at the 2007 World Cup, failure to qualify was a "massive disappointment" but the country could emerge stronger from the wreckage. Brent's former teammate Bryan Strang, however, doesn't share that optimism.

"Did we deserve to eat at the top table," asked Strang. "I guess not going to the World Cup is something to do with karma. It's hard to produce fruits when the intentions are wrong. It seems the vision was lost and not being at the World Cup was almost inevitable."

READ MORE
International stardom to phone snatching
It is feared that the failure to qualify for the World Cup could have a negative effect on public interest and growth of cricket in Zimbabwe. The qualifiers last year, where Zimbabwe were doing well until the fateful game against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were watched by unprecedented crowds.

Almost all the games at the four venues in Harare and Bulawayo, even those involving neutral teams, had a packed house.

For Ali Shah, who represented Zimbabwe in three World Cups, pay issues and a weakened club cricket system are the main reasons behind the debacle.

"You can't play cricket at the highest level without a good club cricket system. When club cricket in Zimbabwe died, the national team died. Cricket started going down in this country when the administration abandoned club cricket," said Shah.

"Money isn't being channelled towards the development of the game. We've been talking about increasing the player base, but only a handful of cricketers in the national team are being paid. How do you continue playing when you are not getting anything from the game?

"It's sad, but we have to accept the reality that we are no longer a top side."

Missing #Zimbabwe in this World Cup. #worldcup2019
Minimum number of teams in ICC #Cricket world cup should be 12.
10 team Cricket world cup is a Crime. #CWC19

— 10 Team #CWC19 is a Crime. (@ashishaman_in) May 27, 2019
Zimbabwe's penultimate qualifying tie at Harare Sports Club against the West Indies, in which the hosts could have sealed qualification with a game to spare, was watched by almost 10,000 spectators.

For the must-win game against the UAE, around 17,000 people, the biggest crowd ever seen at a cricket match in the country, thronged the same venue. The noisy and partisan home crowd - expecting nothing but a win for the ticket to the World Cup - watched in horror as the Zimbabwean side crumbled to a three-run defeat.

"Losing to a lowly ranked side UAE added insult to injury," said Geoff Guwakuwa, a Zimbabwe supporter. "It's every cricket fan's dream to watch their team compete at the biggest stage. It's going to be difficult to enjoy the tournament."

Following the debacle, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) degenerated into chaos with the administration sacking coach Heath Streak, captain Graeme Cremer and chief selector Tatenda Taibu.

Zimbabwe, who are often in dire financial straits and had to resort to an ICC-structured funding plan to alleviate their cash situation, will be left poorer without the windfall of the World Cup.

It's sad, but we have to accept the reality that we are no longer a top side.
ALI SHAH, ZIMBABWEAN CRICKETER

Requested to outline the way forward for the game in the country, as well as revealing how much Zimbabwe is poised to lose financially due to the World Cup blow, ZC chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani declined to comment after several calls and messages to him.

Prior to that, the cricket board spokesperson also turned down Al Jazeera's request for comment.

Zimbabwe's wins over the much stronger and more fancied India and South Africa at the 1999 World Cup were largely responsible for the rise in popularity of the game in the country among the majority black population.

Youth hit hard
While Streak said reducing the number of teams at the World Cup will affect the sport on the global level, the failure to qualify is set to have serious repercussions on young cricketers in the country.

"Not qualifying was a huge blow," said Streak, who captained Zimbabwe at the 2003 World Cup and is considered one of his country's greatest cricketers.

"Every player wants to play in the World Cup. Look at Blessing Muzarabani. Because we didn't qualify, it was an easy decision for him to give up international cricket to go and play county [in the UK]."

Muzarabani, a 21-year-old serious fast-bowling prospect for Zimbabwe who was being nurtured under Streak in the national side, quit international cricket to sign a three-year Kolpak deal with Northamptonshire.

The lanky paceman's representatives admitted the decision to leave Zimbabwe was driven by concerns over money and game-time following the national team's World Cup miss.

"I moved here because it was clear we weren't going to have a lot of international fixtures," Muzarabani told Al Jazeera from the UK. "I felt I was at a stage and age in my career where I needed to be playing consistent top-class cricket throughout the year. That was definitely not going to be the case in Zimbabwe."

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by jimmylesaint »

You guys talking about youth academies and the like :D
ZC board doesn't care! They just want the gravy train to keep rolling, they not interested in the next Taibu or Streak.
There continuity plan is simply to import 4-5 pakistani or indian players with talent and give them residency.

Reference to the new board and sorting out finances.....one would hope that sponsors would now feel their money will be used properly.

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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by ZIMDOGGY »

jimmylesaint wrote:
Fri Jul 05, 2019 7:35 am
You guys talking about youth academies and the like :D
ZC board doesn't care! They just want the gravy train to keep rolling, they not interested in the next Taibu or Streak.
There continuity plan is simply to import 4-5 pakistani or indian players with talent and give them residency.

Reference to the new board and sorting out finances.....one would hope that sponsors would now feel their money will be used properly.
You know, you actually touched on something I’ve wondered for a while. Why haven’t teams like Zim, Namibia, Scotland, Canada just thought to ‘buy’ a Pakistani/Indian fringe first class player with the intention of making them national team stalwarts. Canada especially.
My observation is people from these two countries always seem very eager to flee the nest at every opportunity, and there’s a lot of talent there. I would guess and say there’s 500 players in those countries that are equal or better batsman than say, Williams. Whom I rate mind you.Im just playing maths in my head. Numbers.

Please don’t confuse this with an earlier post I made a month ago saying I think players clogging up amateur leagues in minor countries stops the growth of cricket to the masses. That point still stands. However, on a higher level, there’s an opportunity to weaponise excess ready made talent, that no ones really tried. I’m talking ready made professional cricketers. Dare I say in Pakistan’s case, some players who are destined for national honours may still choose an option like Canada.
So you can buy 4x almost ready made test players/national u/19s with a view to be national players in 3/4 years.
I’m not sure if you are joking but I can see Zimbabwe doing this in real life. Eugene’s Zimbabwe cricket page is filled with cricketers wanting to migrate to Zim with a hope of playing international cricket.
That’s one thing Zimbabwean born cricketers really take for granted. Their pathway to test cricket is the most straightforward and easiest in the world. If you have any remote shot at being a good international player, you’ll get a go.
Cricinfo profile of the 'James Bond' of cricket:

FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay
BORN: 13 June 1967, Harare
KNOWN AS: Gus Mackay

'The' Gus Mackay.

Hero.
Sportsman.
Artist.
Player.

**
Q. VUSI SIBANDA, WHERE DO YOU HOP?

A. UNDA DA ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE*

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jaybro
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by jaybro »

It’s a fact that we haven’t really discussed here but if in some type of miracle our dreams come true and ZC gets their shit sorted and cricket in Zimbabwe actually starts to prosper, the system will get filled with migrant players attempting to come over.

New Zealand are in a similar boat, they’ve always got at least one or two ‘migrant players’ in their side
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kudet
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Re: [ Poll ] Has Zimbabwe fallen to Kenya levels?

Post by kudet »

https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/0 ... oundation/

MANY amongst us will be unsurprised by Zimbabwe’s recent ODI whitewash defeat at the hands of the Netherlands — one of the supposed minnows of international cricket.

To reveal deep-seated ignorance, there are some though who will be blowing their top — like when United Arab Emirates denied us a World Cup place in 2018 — and
tragically amongst them are those that have been governing cricket in this country.

But, of course, you do not expect those that have choked the life out of cricket in Zimbabwe to own up to the mismanagement that has brought us this very
undesirable state of affairs.

You cannot wake up one day, in 2019, and pretend to be alarmed by a hiding from Netherlands — as if it’s given that beating them is our Zimbabwean birthright
no matter how much we self-destruct, and for them losing should be in their Dutch DNA regardless of the dignity, discipline and purpose invested by all in that country in uplifting their cricket over many years.

It shows you a lot about the calibre of an administration which publicly boosts that the relatively new Zimbabwe coach, Lalchand Rajput, cannot possibly lose
to an associate member team, just to spite the outgoing coach.

Rajput, who knows the game a hell of a lot better than those that hired him, will probably be blushing right now at that ludicrous comparison in the wake of
the Netherlands debacle.

With Rajput’s success with Afghanistan in mind, which he will find awfully difficult to replicate with Zimbabwe, quite obviously he’s not part of the problem
here.
The foundation of Zimbabwean cricket was shaken well before him.

Club cricket for example, which used to be the bedrock of the game in this country, is an absolute shambles.
The Dutch, in comparison, have some 52 vibrant cricket clubs across the Kingdom — a country not by a long shot bigger than Zimbabwe.

Because quite a lot of overseas professionals go to play club cricket in Netherlands in the summer — as used to happen in Zimbabwe late 80s into the 90s — the
standard of Dutch club cricket is almost better than the national team. They do have proper cricket clubs over there with rich history, dating back some 150
years.

That club culture, unlike in Zimbabwe, is being upheld and need be modified, for the betterment of Dutch cricket.

A good number of those in the Netherlands national squad today play in the English Country Championship.
From all this, there is a tremendous amount of stuff to learn for the 6 000 odd Dutch cricketers across the country, and that’s a lot of cricketers for a so-
called lowly cricketing nation.

No rocket scientist is thus needed to figure out how a supposed minnow of international cricket can today boss around a Zimbabwe side whose administration has
long abandoned the organisational structures that that shaped our game and delivered results in the past.

In light of this, I have been asked by some to share my views on the latest boardroom manoeuvres in Zimbabwean cricket.



Having seen best and worst of this game in this country, I will put my head on the block and declare my support for any efforts to breathe new life into the
sport.

As a nation, we are incredibly lucky to have an abundant supply of young cricketers from the schools system.

The Netherlands, who I have used as a shining example of development, do not even play any cricket at school level.

Putting the game in the hands of those with a proven track-record — those that in the past presided over the best era of Zimcricket on and off the field — is
the most sensible transitional measure at this point in time.

Then of course the nation should pass the baton to younger, skilful and dignified administrators to take Zimbabwe forward and reclaim our rightful place a
globally-respected cricket nation.

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