Dave Houghton hints at change of roles

AFTER a disastrous past couple of months with the senior men’s national cricket team, Chevrons head coach has given a hint on the possibility of acquiring a new role within Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), giving up as head coach.

Amid speculation that ZC will ring in some changes after the embarrassment of failing to qualify for next year’s T20 World Cup after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Uganda, Houghton has questioned his future as the head coach of the Chevrons.

Speaking after Zimbabwe’s 2-0 One Day International (ODI) series defeat at the hands of Ireland at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, Houghton said he is evaluating whether he will be better off at another position within ZC other than head coach.

He added that the upcoming weeks will be crucial in deciding the future of the national team and he will have difficult decisions to make.

“I have got great love for Zimbabwe Cricket but the choices I need to make now are; will the team get better with me here or do they need a new voice and me not here. Am I better served in another department, that’s something for me and the bosses to think about over the next week or so,” said Houghton.

The Chevrons’ fortunes have been plummeting in the past few months, contrary to the positive cricket they played when Houghton first took over the hot seat. In a space of four months, they have failed to qualify for the ODI and T20 World Cup and also suffered a T20 and ODI series defeats at the hand of Ireland.

Apart from being redirected to another post, Houghton believes a psychologist could be needed to help the players mentally. He joined the Chevrons 18 months ago when he was appointed to deal with their shattered confidence following a series of battering in international assignments under Lalchand Rajput and the team has since relapsed to the state he found them in.

“It’s been a difficult time in the changing room, to be honest. When I first came in, everybody’s ears were wide open. Everything was new; everything was fantastic even though I didn’t bring in any fantastic new ideas, just the calmness.

“But now I am having to on a daily basis call for energy, enjoyment, more quality in practice, punctuality. All these things have just suddenly slipped a little bit. Will a psychologist fix that? I am not sure but, maybe a couple more different voices in the changing room will be the answer,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s next international assignment will be a tour to Sri Lanka in January for a white ball series. The Chevrons will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 3 with a three-game ODI series starting from January 6 and this will be followed by a three-game T20I series between 14-18 January.

This will be their first bilateral visit to the island nation since 2022.

– @brandon_malvin