Stakeholders and players have been left bemused after it was revealed that nobody will be allowed to attend the AGM unless they have been invited. The only people at the meeting will be those appointed to by ZC to run its newly-created provinces. No minutes of previous meetings or accounts have been circulated. “It’s fairly obvious that the ZC board do not want anybody at the AGM who will be asking questions,” a former senior board official told Cricinfo. Furthermore, life presidents and life vice-presidents, who are automatically entitled to attend AGMs, were this week informed that they had been stripped of their status and so were not invited.
When we spoke to someone familiar with the ZC constitution, he explained that the meeting was unconstitutional on several counts. The necessary 21 days notice had not been given, the AGM had to be held “not later than September 15”, and, according to him, “none of the provincial associations have paid or have any idea how much their affiliation fees are for the last two years”. He said that section 47 contained a clause stipulating that only paid-up provinces could attend AGMs. “It’s been well documented that Peter Chingoka [the ZC chairman] has flouted the constitution or used it to suit his needs, but he has hit an all time low,” the former official said. “It’s amazing that honest Test-playing nations can even sit at the same table as this man, let alone play cricket against his side. Can nobody can see past this charade of accountability?” The board’s website contains no mention of the AGM. Cricinfo was unable to get any comment from ZC. Its officials refuse to speak to us as they object to our coverage of the game inside the country.