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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
FROM pay cuts to loss of potential game time, the Chevrons are now set to endure one of their most miserable years after what had promised to be a bounty season of cricket was swept away by the coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe Cricket, who have already lost out on international fixtures this year, announced at the weekend they were scrapping the proposed five-match T20I series against Afghanistan.
This becomes the fourth engagement to suffer the same fate after Zimbabwe’s home and away tours against Ireland, India and Australia were also shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic in the last few months.
The biggest loss for Zimbabwe was game time.
The Chevrons, who hosted Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series before travelling to Bangladesh for all formats earlier this year, will not be able to play at home again in 2020.
ZC spokesperson, Darlington Majonga, yesterday said the Chevrons’ remaining hope for the year was the scheduled tour of Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20s.
The ODI series will form part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, which will culminate in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.
“In terms of home tours, this (Afghanistan tour) was the last one but we still have a scheduled away tour to Pakistan around October — November.
“We hope this will materialise, obviously, subject to Government approval because with Pakistan, it’s not only about the health and safety issues.
“But, I believe it should happen because we have seen teams touring Pakistan of late.
“Some of the cancelled tours are part of the ICC Super League so they are not dead as such.
“They have to be rescheduled, as and when there is an opening. Once the pandemic is under control, I am sure ZC will be able to sit down with the different boards and plan for new dates,” said Majonga.
ZC had applied for a waiver to proceed with the Afghanistan series in a strictly controlled environment.
But, with Zimbabwe experiencing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, the Government advised, through the Sports and Recreation Commission, that the country was not ready as yet to host visiting teams.
Already, the country has lost out on international cricket fixtures after Ireland’s tour of the country was put on hold due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
India were scheduled to visit Zimbabwe in August for three ODIs, but that series has also been cancelled.
With this one, Zimbabwe not only missed out on game time but also the opportunity to boost coffers in this potentially money-spinning tour.
Hosting a giant like India usually comes with a guaranteed pay-check, in terms of television rights.
The Chevrons were pencilled to travel to Australia but the tour has also been shelved.
“We were keen to see the imminent, and safe return of cricket, but we understand the Government’s health concerns and accept that cancelling the proposed tour is sensible,’’ said ZC acting managing director, Givemore Makoni.
“It is in the best interest of players, match officials, volunteers, service providers, fans and the wider community.”
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) also said they would look to revive the series in the future.
“ACB understands that, under the current situation where the Covid-19 pandemic still poses a great threat to the health and safety of everyone concerned, it is not currently feasible for the series to be held,” they said in a statement.
“ACB has always been strongly adherent to the health and safety guidelines in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak throughout the globe which also laid an impact on cricketing calendar including the 2020 T20 World Cup.
“ACB, therefore, respects and conforms to Cricket Zimbabwe’s decision in this regard and cites it as a fair decision under the relevant circumstances and looks forward to bilateral cricket between both sides in future.
“As ACB and Cricket Zimbabwe share a good history of bilateral cricket, the possibility of a series between the national teams of both countries will be discussed again once the threat of Covid-19 is tackled effectively,” said ACB in a statement.
Covid-19 has affected ZC in many ways.
At the beginning of the year, the organisation was forced to embark on salary restructuring which saw employees taking a pay cut on a sliding scale.
That saw the salaries of the secretariat, and the highest-paid players, being reduced by 30 percent. Lowly-paid players, including those on provincial or central contracts, had their remuneration slashed by 15 percent.
Only the ground staff were not affected by the salary cuts since they are the lowest paid employees.
The reduction in salaries came after ZC’s disbursement from the International Cricket Council was reduced from US$9 million to US$5 million from September 2019 to October 2020.
ZC officials felt the move, together with other cost-cutting measures, have assisted the association better handle the challenges posed by Covid-19.
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