Rainsford clears air on ZC post

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe international cricketer Edward Rainsford has shed light on circumstances that saw him turning down an opportunity to become a Zimbabwe Cricket board member in 2019.

Rainsford was part of those elected by delegates at a ZC annual general meeting held in Victoria Falls in June 2019.

The ZC board led by Tavengwa Mukuhlani was, however, suspended by the Sports and Recreation Commission, which declared the AGM invalid.

Rainsford was not present at the AGM because his son was taken ill a few days before the gathering.

“It was a very difficult time for Zimbabwe Cricket where they were trying to get a substantive board in place. I was actually meant to be in Victoria Falls, but my son got very ill and I could not be there. What transpired seemed like something that was done above board and the suspension came as a shock to a lot of people,” Rainsford said.

When he was elected to sit on the board, Rainsford says he was in the middle of negotiations with Cricket Namibia to become their chief executive officer.

He also had cricket commentary commitments.

“At that point, not many people would have known that I was in the middle of an interview with Cricket Namibia to be part of their administration as CEO. When the suspension happened I also had a number of commentary obligations around the world and I thought to myself that I need to perhaps remove myself from the situation and wait for what transpired afterwards and when everything had settled to then re-engage Zimbabwe Cricket,” he said.

When the ZC board was suspended, Rainsford sent a letter through his lawyers to Mukuhlani stating that he was declining his nomination since nothing had been officially communicated to him.

“The way it came out was not good because it came out as if I had picked a side; which I did not. I picked the Ed Rainsford side which is my family and myself and waited until the dust had settled for me to be part of the organisation or try and be part of the organisation and make meaningful changes. That’s why I was engaged in the first place, but it came out as if I was sitting with one camp and I was trying to be something that I wasn’t.”

Rainsford concedes that his letter was heavy handed, but he did not pick any sides in the fight between ZC and the SRC.

“Granted I think my communication was heavy handed, but then it was obviously misconstrued by a number of people and I feel that it’s important to probably set the record straight that I did not pick a side. I have no side as we speak, I did that personally.”

Rainsford said he did not agree with the action taken by the SRC as that led to national cricketers losing out on opportunities to take part in international events and as a former player he could not support anything that prejudices the players.

“I can’t sit here and say oh I agree with the suspension of the board; I did not agree with that. I don’t agree with that because I was a player. The men were unable to go to the Abu Dhabi and Dubai to compete in the qualifier, which if they had qualified would see them in India for the T20 World Cup. They are not going to be there; a Full Member nation was unable to go and compete and be part of the qualifiers and that is such a difficult pill to swallow. The players suffered so much from that particular situation,” Rainsford said.

While the SRC accused ZC of mismanaging the game during the whole debacle, Rainsford says if that was the case, the cricket motherbody would have not been able to pay off the bulk of its debt, which was done last year.

“There were conversations about malpractice, but if you look at the situation now, it’s impossible to say that, with so much that Zimbabwe Cricket has been able to achieve. If it was that bad they wouldn’t have been able to extinguish the debt. They were never going to be able to get to a substantive point and get former players involved.”

Now that the dust has settled, Rainsford is eager to be involved with ZC again for nothing in return.

“I am still very much available to serve Zimbabwe Cricket for free, I am not there to earn any money whatsoever. I think it’s important that we all give back; we can’t give back and expect to take as well,” he said.

Prior to his nomination as a ZC board member, Rainsford had served in the Mashonaland West Cricket Association and Rhinos franchise boards.

He also worked in the ZC marketing department after his retirement in 2013. – @Mdawini_29