JOHANNESBURG Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute last week said that decentralizing cricket would help improve the game in Zimbabwe with new talent emerging as more communities got involved.Bvute, who was in South Africa last Friday to re-establish ties with Cricket South Africa, said through this franchising scheme, more talent would be unearthed. We are taking the game back to the community where we give them the ownership and therefore the responsibility to prove their abilities in the game. It is for the community to run the game professionally, retaining and paying the necessary staff for the project to develop, he said in a statement.
The move to franchise the sport is a departure from the old system where the mother body handled all aspects of the game. It is in our view the best possible way of getting everyone in the community involved in the game for its benefit. Players would be allocated to the respective five regions namely Easterns, Westerns, Northerns, Southerns and Centrals with their respective chief executive officers, coaches and supporting staff as an entity ready to do the job, Bvute added. Cricket in Zimbabwe has declined over the years after senior players quit the national team quit after disagreements with ZC.