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FOOTBALL and cricket are our major sporting disciplines and when they sneeze the entire sporting fraternity catches a cold.
It’s a fair assessment to say both our major sporting disciplines have been performing below the standards we expect, as a nation, from them.
The Chevrons have found the going tough, in recent international matches, including the series they hosted against Bangladesh, a team we are supposed to be fighting, on equal terms.
That we had the advantage of our home conditions, and not the turning wickets which one usually finds in Bangladesh, makes our defeats, across formats, such a disappointing return.
There was the lone consolation of that victory, which briefly tied the Twenty20 International, but when we were supposed to go for the kill, and win the series, we came short.
Even after we had put on a decent performance with the bat, scoring a total which we should have defended, we found ourselves being exposed, at key moments of the game.
There could be an alibi, from those tasked with making sure we have a team that competes well on the big stage, especially against the likes of Bangladesh.
The absence of captain, Sean Williams, and key batsman, Craig Ervine, throughout the series, robbed us of quality, and leadership, in the recent series.
But, after all the years, as a Test playing nation, we can’t freeze, as and when we lose one or two players, because we should have produced, by now, a system that ensures there is a ready supply of good replacements.
It’s disappointing that, in an era where mountains have to be moved, just for us to play international games, because of the Covid-19 situation, we still fall terribly short on the occasions we get the chance.
Right now, we find ourselves with just 10 points, secured in that ODI victory over Pakistan, in our quest to qualify for the next World Cup.
Inevitably, focus has turned on the two expatriates, which we have hired, at a considerable cost, to take our national cricket, and football teams, to the next level.
Rajput, the Indian coach who has been here for some time now, keeps saying that we are moving in the right direction and the fusion of the younger players will bring results, in the long term.
At least, from an administrative point of view, we can see that the Zimbabwe Cricket leadership have already met, to discuss our team’s performance, against Bangladesh.
They have come up with some measures, aimed at arresting the decline, and improving results because they also agree it’s not what the nation expects.
That’s the hallmark of leadership, to embrace the challenges, as and when they come, and try and find a solution, so that tomorrow is better than yesterday.
‘’The Zimbabwe Cricket Board of Directors held a virtual meeting during which the following resolutions were passed — the Board asked the ZC Director of Cricket to urgently come up with a turnaround strategy for the Zimbabwe Senior Men’s National Cricket Team following a string of poor results.
‘’The strategy, which is expected to be in place before the team’s tour to Ireland and Scotland, should focus on the following areas — selection, technical issues (and) performance of senior players.’’
Sadly, the same cannot be said of their colleagues at ZIFA who are behaving as if everything is normal despite the Warriors recent poor run.
When the Warriors finished last, among all the teams, at the COSAFA Cup, it brought home the crisis our number one sporting discipline now finds itself in.
Even after our coach, Zdravko Logarusic, who appears out of depth at this level of the game, fielded experienced players like Ovidy Karuru, Jimmy Dzingai and Washington Arubi, we failed to win a game at the tournament.
The Croat, who appears a specialist at fishing for excuses, was singing his familiar song that the absence of a running domestic league, has left him with challenges in terms of selection of players.
It’s a fair point but we all can see that even the ones he ends up selecting are questionable choices and when you leave out the top scorer, in the recent Chibuku Super Cup, fans have a right to question your pedigree.
It’s becoming a familiar tale that every tournament we take part in, under Loga, we finish as the bottom team, among all the participating nations.
That should tell us that we have some in-house issues, which have suddenly turned us into such punching bags, which need addressing before we find comfort, in our favourite excuse, that Covid-19 has hammered our football, more than any other country.
For us, the disappointment isn’t that Loga is failing but that there doesn’t seem to be an acceptance by those who employed him to acknowledge that we are now in a crisis.
After the disaster, at the CHAN finals, where we finished as the bottom-placed country, the messages from ZIFA were that they would meet to review the situation.
That’s the last we heard of that.
It’s the same story, when the Young Warriors were expelled from the COSAFA tournament last year, for trying to use an over-aged player, there were promises an investigation would be carried out.
Sadly, or expectedly, that was the beginning, and ending, of the story.
After the COSAFA debacle, the messages from ZIFA were that the leadership was going to hold an urgent meeting, to review the situation, and try to find solutions.
Of course, that’s the last we heard about the issue and now we are about to plunge into the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, where we will face tougher opponents, and we expect things will just work out, one way or another.
It’s a recipe for disaster.
Online Reporter