Cricket’s Darkest Hour

And so tyranny went unconfronted and players were let down and good men betrayed. It is not much of a way to run a pizza parlour, let alone a game with international pretensions, inclined to clothe itself in the rhetoric of nobility. Of course it is only a game, but it is also a meeting point and carries wider responsibilities.Alas, its new leadership has shown itself to be spineless, amoral, unprincipled, shallow, self-centred, ill-informed and contemptible.Angry? Damn right, I am angry, and not with the sort of sudden, regrettable fury caused by petty grievance but rather with the mountainous rage provoked by a terrible wrong, and the lamentable sight of expedient men looking the other way. Cricket boards, too, are known by the company they keep.Alas, the BCCI has shown that it puts self-interest above all other considerations. In order to retain power it will deal with the devil himself. As a result it stands accused of dragging the game, whose good name it is supposed to protect, into a sewer.Every now and then a game comes across a definitive issue. In the recent past, fierce debate has raged about various red herrings. Everyone gets overheated about throwing, which is hardly a problem these days, especially among fast bowlers. Now everyone seems to be agitated about the IPL, forgetting that it was a necessary response to the breakaway ICL. In the longer run, these are trivialities, the sort every game encounters in a changing world. Different opinions can reasonably be held about them.
Deaf ear to misconduct
Governance is another matter. Turning a deaf ear to blatant misconduct is another matter. Allowing the game to sink into an abyss is another matter. Betraying honest cricketers is another matter. Tolerating the representatives of tyranny is another matter. Pretending tyranny does not exist is another matter. Ignoring blatant threats, bullying, misuse of funds, unlawful procedures, naked racism, intimidation of critics and so on and so forth – all the ghastly weapons of the all-consuming state – is another matter. That is not leadership. It is cynicism, or worse, cowardice. Pawar, Mali, Arendse stand accused of all this and more.
Obviously Zimbabwe is the issue that has forced everyone involved in the game to examine their hearts and heads and stomachs. Specifically, the manner in which some people and their loathsome henchmen have run the game in that wonderful country.These men reflect their times. Make no mistake, they are Zanu (PF) loyalists in sheep’s clothing. They have grown fat as others starve. As pitches go unprepared and grass grows high, they have bought property in London, invested heavily in companies and generally made a fortune in a bankrupt land.They have done deals with the BCCI, and votes for it at every opportunity. They are pitiful figures who will not survive the return of democracy and the rule of law to their country.
They also seek to control the media. Not that in the case of television that is all that hard. Not so long ago a commentator remarked that whereas the Indian team had arrived at a Test match in Bulawayo in a luxury coach, the hosts had turned up in a ramshackle minibus. At once his producer roared into his earphones, telling him to avoid all political comment. He obeyed. These people know where their bread is jammed.
Wine and dine in posh hotels
Between them, and ably assisted by other dubious office-bearers, and despite the best efforts of honourable men of all descriptions, they continue to destroy Zimbabwean cricket. Now and then they take ICC visitors on pleasant little trips from which said visitors emerge with gaga grins wrapped around their beneficent faces.They take them to lively school festivals staged on prestigious school grounds. They take them to Victoria Falls and wine and dine them in posh hotels – the same treatment dished out to election observers.They do not visit hospitals without medicine or schools without teachers or see millions living in avoidable poverty or queuing for bread or crawling under the fence near Beitbridge. We would not want to upset the poor dears, and anyhow it is all a western conspiracy.These visitors do not ask why life expectancy has fallen to 36 despite the millions of dollars of aid that pour in from Britain and elsewhere. Zanu (PF) did not stay in power so long without knowing how to play the game.After years of sickening misrule in Zimbabwean cricket, the ICC finally asked KPMG to undertake a proper forensic audit. Of course, plenty of time had been provided to incinerate tell-tale documents. Moreover, these suspects had previously been arrested by the local police force on foreign exchange charges, which made them even more cautious.After a long scrutiny, KPMG reported that it had found no evidence of criminal conduct. But it did uncover serious financial irregularities. Part of any board’s duty is to ensure that money is properly used. ZCU has been given tens of millions of dollars. Why are the grounds in poor shape? Why are the players paid a pittance? Why have tournaments been cancelled? Where has the money gone?
Unsurprisingly, the ICC Finance Sub-Committee, led by Sir John Anderson, recommended that the matter be referred to the Ethics Committee for further consideration. As Mihir Bose and others reported, the ICC now faced its moment of decision. Did it care about the players or the welfare of the game? Nations concerned about such matters wanted to know more. Previously Malcolm Speed, the dismayed CEO of the ICC, had raised doubts about the reliability of ZCU’s accounts. But the sickeningly cynical South African and Indian contingents protected their own.Perhaps the game has known a darker hour than this. God knows cricket has always reflected its times, as Zimbabwean cricket now reflects Mugabe and his murderous hordes. For an unconscionable time, no-one said much about the white captains of West Indies, or apartheid, or the massacre of the Tamils, or Mugabe’s own slaughter in Matabeleland. God knows the game has been smug. Alas, nothing has changed. Indeed the position has deteriorated. Nowadays, anything goes.Some people are still trying. After years of fiddling around, England has refused to allow Peter Chingoka into the country, a decision that might cost them the right to stage the next Twenty20 World Cup. In that case England ought not to attend. Mind you, with vast hypocrisy England is still sending Zimbabwean refugees back to the hellhole whence they came.Tatenda Taibu is eager to go to Australia. Once the golden boy, he had been lured back by money after fleeing in the wake of threats directed at his family. Other players are disenchanted. It is an appalling state of affairs.

Adapted from an article that first appeared on Cricinfo.

God knows cricket has always reflected its times, as Zimbabwean cricket now reflects Mugabe and his murderous hordes. For an unconscionable time, no-one said much about the white captains of West Indies, or apartheid, or the massacre of the Tamils, or Mugabe’s own slaughter in Matabeleland.

IN BRIEF BY SPORTS REPORTER

Provisional athletics team named

Zimbabwe has named a provisional 15-member squad for the African Athletics Championships, which run from April 30 to May 4 in Addis Ababa.The squad includes a number of athletes who are based out of the country, such as reigning Sports Person of the Year Young Talkmore Nyongani, Lewis Banda, Gabriel Mvumvure, Sharon Tavengwa and Brian Dzingai.National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe National Convenor of Selections Claver Machiridza, in announcing the squad, said they had only named a provisional side because they were still working on sending more athletes to Addis Ababa.Also making the team to the African Championships are middle distance runner Cuthbert Nyasango, Gabriel Chikomo, Ngonidzashe Makusha, Nelton Ndebele, Malvern Bonde, Anthony Hobwana, Themba Ncube, David Tinago, and Francis Zimwara.Some of those in the team are expected to represent the country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing China in August.

Farewell to Bethal Salis

Bethal Salis, a member of the first Zimbabwe national soccer team after Independence in 1980, has died aged 54.We received a message from Canada that Bethal Salis died on Monday afternoon. He left the country to settle in Canada some time ago and has been suffering from cancer of the stomach, said Chairman of Arcadia Sports Club, Freddie Frank.Salis is survived by his wife Sarah and three children Craig, who at one stage played for CAPS United, Bethal Junior and Megan.
 
Donga meets Chibuta in Lusaka fight

Mordicai Donga will fight John Chibuta of Zambia in Lusaka on April 26 in a light middleweight contest.
The Zambian promoters opted for Donga, whom they have seen a number of times.It will not be the first time the two fighters have faced each other as they clashed on New Year’s Eve in 2005 in Bulawayo. The Zimbabwean lost on a technical knockout decision. They then met a year later in Zambia with Chibuta getting a hometown decision in a 10-rounder dominated by Donga.Donga has not given up the battle for recognition and will next month travel to South Africa in pursuit of greener pastures as fighters in that country have access to more high-profile promoters.Zimbabwe boxers have recently benefited from a relationship initiated by Brian Moyo’s Blow by Blow Promotions, which brought reputable Anthony Mwamba and several boxers, Chibuta included, to this country in 2004.Since then, local boxers have fought frequently in Zambia, Uganda and Kenya because of Mwamba’s links. A new route was opened up more recently, that has seen pugilists flocking to Namibia and South Africa.