The Coltart/ Makoni saga got me
thinking really hard about our cricket affairs in general from the boardroom to
the field. The directive has been the cause of much concern in the country
particularly for the cricketing world since its announcement. Its initial draft
stated that only former national players could be considered as selectors. ZC
took the issue with a pinch of salt t because of Zimbabwe’s past which saw few
black African players represent the country at national level. The country’s
cricket governing body said the directive would continue to marginalize the
majority of the population by ruling them out of administrative positions.
How good have we been in the past
decade in this gentlemen’s game? Some would argue that we haven’t played enough
cricket this far. Some would like me say there has been a considerable amount
of development in this game, enough to say we have rebuilt cricket to the
extent that it has bore some internationally recognized stars like Hamilton
Masakadza, Brendon Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Tatenda
Taibu, world class umpires Jeremiah Matibiri and Owen Chirombe record breakers
like Brian Vitori and the youngest T20 umpire Langton Rusere.
I am sure most of us would boldly
say, we can never go back to the era of oppression by any standard what so ever.
Whether or not Makoni is a worthy candidate it remains to be seen but for now
until we can place a trusted "white man" we would be looking at another black man
succeeds him and continue fighting for the cause of the general black
cricketers. For now the directive by the SRC shades nothing but those painful
days of our cricket history. Those days were being black was one’s undoing
whether or not you were a good cricketer.
Where l hail from, in Bulawayo,
there were players like the late great wicketkeeper batsman Wisdom Siziba, Godwin Dube, Mbekezeli Mabuza,
Lucky Ngwenya, Trevor Phiri, Tinashe Hove, Sydney Dingizita, Chris Phiri,
Vumindaba Moyo, Bhethule Mlotshwa and yours truly but unfortunately these gentlemen where denied a chance to
showcase their skills to the nation because of the racial card being pulled time
and again, eventually ending most of our careers at provincial level.
The racial card though must not be
used as an excuse for our short comings; we have had our fair share of pathetic
decisions as the black administrators. On the field of play there has been a ‘trial
and error’ approach for the better part of the past decade or so until the
arrival of the most successful project cricket has seen in this country; the
franchise system. It has been successful, l mean judging from the fact that the
system has produced a couple of progressive stars like Nathan Waller, Kevin
Kasuza, Brian Chari, Stephen Chimhamhiwa, Tino Mutombodzi, Tendai Chatara, PJ
Moor to mention just a few.
It’s interesting how Coltart has
attracted so much attention when in actual fact cricket isnt doing that bad ( from my point of view). It’s
a broke institution yes, its management has its short falls yes, its players have put one too many dismal shows yes, but with all due respect can all these problems be solved by appointing a former national team player to be convener of selectors? From the surface it looks and sounds well to
have quality selectors but how many black faces do we have the backs of those
hapless youngsters?
This directive is coming a
bit too early, we will have to have the Vusi Sibanda, Masakadza, Matsikenyeri
playing era coming to an end. Then they can usher the game from a hands on
approach in terms of experience but until then the black majority, am sure will
guard this convener of selectors post jealously because it provides for a fair player
selection platform.
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