Zimbabwe Cricket: What Went Wrong?

 On July 19, 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket because of government interference in their cricketing affairs. Funding to Zimbabwe Cricket had been frozen and they were barred from taking part in any upcoming ICC events. It was a sad end to the story of a promising cricketing nation who rose through the ranks, produced great talent and emerged as a force to be reckon with. How did it all unfold? Read the article to find just how.

Picture this. It's 2002. You're a cricketer from Zimbabwe.  Your team has been growing, you earn a decent salary and there's no room for politics in the sport. Life's well and good for you at the moment. You look forward to the future with high hopes and aspirations with very little idea of what awaits you. 

But for that, we need to go a little back in time.

"STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM, NOW WE'RE HERE"

After gaining independence on April 18,1980, Zimbabwe became an associate member of the ICC on July 21, 1981.

They flirted with the idea of winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup (then the Prudential Cup), rubbing shoulders with cricketing heavyweights like Australia, England and West Indies. They became an official Test Playing nation in 1992, despite them winning only one out of their first 30 matches. The coming years saw Zimbabwe's rise to prominence in the cricket world. They began to conquer new frontiers and had a solid squad built around gifted players like the Flower Brothers, Henry Olonga, Heath Streak, Murray Goodwin, David Houghton, Neil Johnson and many more. But things were about to change.

"PRESIDENT MUGABE'S REIGN OF TERROR"

The year was 2003. Zimbabwe was getting ready to co-host the Cricket World Cup along with Kenya and South Africa but then president Robert Mugabe's recent policies hadn't gone down too well with the International Community. His radical land reforms led to the seizure of white-owned farms, thousands of arrests and human rights abuses. There was a growing concern among Zimbabwean cricketers as well and thus Mugabe faced opposition from them. The country's most successful player, Andy Flower and it's first Black Cricketer, Henry Olonga wore black armbands in protest during the 1st match of the tournament mourning the "Death of Democracy". Flower announced his retirement right after the tournament and moved to England. Olonga, on the other hand, went into hiding following death threats and being chased by Mugabe's 'secret police' and never returned. His career as a cricketer was over.

"YOU'RE FIRED"

In 2004, Zimbabwe Cricket; under the patronage of Mugabe, hit rock bottom when then captain Heath Streak was sacked for protesting against the quota system for black cricketers. Several of his teammates walked out of the team in protest, resulting in chaos.

"WHEN IT COMES CRASHING DOWN"

In 2008, Mugabe won yet another controversial election, which led to cutting down of bilateral ties between them and several other cricketing nations. Zimbabwe's crippling economy had also been an issue. The Zimbabwean 50-billion-dollar note was worth just 33 U.S. cents in 2008, signalling a major economic crisis in the country. This lead to salary disputes with the players and sometimes the board didn't have enough money to pay for the players' meals. 

"I QUIT"

Cricket was resurging back in Zimbabwe during 2009-11 but that wasn't going to go on for much long. In 2015, Brendan Taylor left Zimbabwe after leading the side in the 2015 World Cup and moved to England to play county cricket for Nottinghamshire. Taylor revealed concerns about his financial future behind his retirement from international cricket as he had to look after his financial security after being paid just $250 for the entire World Cup campaign. Virat Kohli played 14 IPL games last season. For that, he was paid roughly US$2.5 million. That works out to about $178,000 per game. Last season Zimbabwean franchise cricketers were paid a daily stipend of $10. This is enough to make you aware of the magnitude of the crisis of cricketers in Zimbabwe. 

The final nail in the coffin came in the form of ICC banning Zimbabwe from participating in any ICC events due to government's political interference. It was, however, lifted later on but Zimbabwe cricket hasn't recovered from it yet. 

What would you have done? Would you have walked out of the team as protest to the racial discrimination or continue to represent your nation hoping for a better change. It all comes down to the mental anguish between our morals and will. Cricket in Zimbabwe has been on a steady decline and rightly so. The country's economic crisis along with its hyperinflation and corruption has curb stomped cricket to its very roots. Why would a mother groom and train their child to be a cricketer when literally any other job would pay more than representing your country on the highest level of sports. Even though the players have gone on record to say that they'd play for free, which is awe inspiring, that isn't a viable solution to the crisis which remains unfulfilled to this very day.

We still don't know if there's a ray of hope waiting for us at the horizon but things look dark for Zimbabwe Cricket.

If this is all signalling the end of cricket in Zimbabwe, then the cricketing world will mourn it's death and if not, it will be a new dawn with a miraculous tale of uprising.