adminZIMBABWE Chevrons get their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier underway against Singapore at Queens Sports Club this morning.
And, as captain Craig Ervine rightly noted, there is more at stake for us than just trying to qualify for the next ICC T20 World Cup Down Under.
We all agree that the state of our cricket, which is our second biggest sporting franchise in terms of spectator interest, isn’t what we all want to see.
Rather than improving, the reality is that we have been struggling, across all formats, and we now even lose at home to teams like Namibia.
While many teams, which we used to consider to be below us, have been improving in leaps and bounds, we have been going the other way.
Some feel that we have relied mostly on the same players, who reached their peak a long time ago, and we are now paying the big price for the lack of new blood in our team.
Somehow, the development structures, which were rolling out good players, capable of taking on some of the best teams in the world, appear to have stalled.
Save for Wessley Madhevere, who also appears to be struggling to live up to the promise he showed as a teenage cricketer, we can struggle to point out to a good young player, who has emerged from our production lines, over the last few years.
Interest in the game among the fans who have passionately been following cricket, also appears to be waning.
It’s hard to imagine that, just a few years ago, this was the same sport, which drew more than 15 000 to a match against the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup Qualifier.
Such was the huge interest, in the Chevrons and in the game of cricket in this country, we saw thousands of fans being turned away, because Harare Sports Club was full to the brim.
To his credit, Ervine was honest about where his team, and our game, stand right now.
“It has been many years since we’ve been involved in the World Cup, which is disappointing,” he told the International Cricket Council, ahead of the start of the tournament.
“There’s a lot at stake for us as a country and if we’re able to qualify again, all of a sudden the pieces of the puzzle start coming together again.
“It’s always very exciting to be playing at home in front of your home crowd and when you start to get results, you start to pull people together.
“That’s definitely something we need to find again – we want to start pulling Zimbabweans together, win some games and make it exciting for them to watch us.”
But, more than what happens on the pitch, our hosting of this tournament is a big deal for our country.
We have another chance to show the world that we are very good hosts and all the visiting athletes will feel safe, and happy, during their stay here.
We have done it before and we know we can do it again.
The world has once again entrusted us with a huge responsibility and it knows we will deliver again.
Online Reporter