Mukuhlani reflects on ZC’s difficult year

ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani has said he is confident that they will rise up from the ashes after describing the previous year as one of the worst in the history of the sport in the country.
Mukuhlani was speaking during ZC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held virtually on Saturday.

The meeting was attended by delegates from the country’s 10 provinces. During the 12-month period under review, Zimbabwe could not make it to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and also failed to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, missing out on a place at the latter tournament after losing to Uganda and Namibia.

“This called for a sober reflection on our part. Were we doing things correctly? Were our processes right? Did we have the right personnel in place,” said Mukuhlani in his chairman’s report.

During the meeting, ZC’s audited financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2023 were also adopted with the organisation having once again received an unqualified or clean audit opinion.

Mukuhlani believes that all this points to a bright future for Zimbabwean cricket. “With ZC receiving yet another clean or unqualified audit opinion for the period under review, I believe my confidence is not misplaced.

“The numbers aside, the trust that our partners continue to place in our organisation and sport excites us and points to a promising future,” he said.

Mukuhlani also added that ZC had made considerable progress in implementing the recommendations that were made by the three-member Committee of Inquiry led by Lloyd Mhishi. The committee was meant to probe Zimbabwe’s World Cup qualification failures.

Some of their recommendations included appointing a new coaching staff for the senior and Under-19 men’s national teams.

Mukuhlani believes they have now ticked all the boxes having recently appointed Justin Sammons and Elton Chigumbura as head coaches for the senior men and Under-19 teams respectively. “I am pleased to report that we have now ticked almost all the boxes,” he said.

During the AGM, a resolution was also passed for ZC to re-advertise for the position of bowling coach for the Zimbabwe Under-19 Men’s National Team after former South Africa international Paul Adams, who had initially been offered the post, decided to accept a job elsewhere.

Apart from the technical team appointments, Mukuhlani said ZC was also working hard on other key priority areas, including revamping its domestic cricket and development pathways as well as building indoor training facilities in all five first-class provinces.

He said they are implementing these programmes so as to make sure that in 2026 when the country co-hosts the Men’s Under-19 World Cup, it won’t just be adding numbers but also competing. He added that they have their eyes set on being competitive again in the Men’s Cricket World Cup which Zimbabwe will co-host alongside South Africa and Namibia.

“All this is designed to ensure that when we co-host the ICC Under-19 Men’s World Cup 2026 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027, we will not be mere participants but serious competitors,” he said.

Mukuhlani was re-elected as ZC chairperson for a third four-year term during the institution’s AGM that was held in Bulawayo last year. – @brandon_malvin.