Reactions to Houghton’s stepping down

DAVE Houghton, who has since stepped down as the Zimbabwe senior men’s national cricket team head coach, 18 months after accepting the role, is set to assume a new position at the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).

The 66-year-old Chevrons legend stepped down from his duties as the national team caoch after plummeting results which saw Zimbabwe fail to qualify for the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup (50 Overs) and next year’s T20 World Cup, all within a period of four months.

The failure to qualify for the two global showpieces was followed by a dismal performance in a white ball series against Ireland at Harare Sports Club where the Chevrons lost the T20I series 2-1 and the One Day International (ODI) series 2-0.

Houghton will, however, assume a new role at ZC, according to chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani.

“Dave will always be a legend of our game and it is with regret that he felt the change room needed a new voice. While the past few months have been disappointing as we failed to qualify for both the 50-over World Cup and the T20 World Cup, they should not obscure all the work he has done over the past year to rebuild the foundations for long-term success.

“Dave leaves the team with our sincerest thanks for his tireless efforts and we are looking forward to working with him in a different role as we seek to change our on-field fortunes,” said Mukuhlani in a statement.

The news of Houghton’s resignation was met with mixed reactions from cricket stakeholders but the fact that he remains within the ZC structures is a relief to some.

“Dave Houghton helped bring dignity back to the Zim jersey and I am amped he will be continuing at Zimbabwe Cricket. Whatever role he takes can only make the organisation better,” wrote Larry Kwirirayi, a cricket writer and blogger.

An avid cricket fan, Themba Siziba said he believes Houghton will be better suited in the development structures within ZC as he has a good eye for talent but as the head coach, recent results warrant the exit door.

“Without a doubt, Houghton did well in his first few months, he brought life to the game, unfortunately of late, results were no longer coming and something had to be done. If they fired guys like Steve Mangongo and Lalchand Rajput for poor results then surely Houghton shouldn’t have been spared.

“But, I believe he has an eye for talent and will play a part in grooming talent so it’s a good thing that he is staying within the system and hopefully they will give him a role within the development structures,” said Siziba.

Renowned development coach, Stanislaus Rukato said he believes Houghton was the best man for the job despite the few hiccups which he, and the team, have been encountering lately.

“I think he was good for Zimbabwe. Yes, I know results weren’t coming but sometimes you have to stick to these things, at the end of the day, results will come. He was the best person to take us forward. Since he is said to be given another role, I think he will be better suited as the technical director,” said Rukato.

In his own words, Houghton said he would still want to be involved within the development of the game in the country.

“I have always had Zimbabwe cricket at heart and, though my coaching of the national team comes to an end, I would love to be involved in other areas. The talent base in Zimbabwe is enormous. How we move players from talented to performing well on the international stage is a great project to be involved in,” he said in a statement.

Zimbabwe’s next international assignment will be a trip to Sri Lanka early January for a white ball series and an interim coach to take charge of the series will be announced by ZC in due course.

In yesterday’s board meeting, which was meant to probe the failures to qualify for the World Cups, ZC appointed a three-member committee to be chaired by Lloyd Mhishi.

The committee was also tasked with reviewing ZC’s cricket affairs structures.

The committee, whose other members are Godfrey Nyadongo and Blessing Ngondo, has been given three weeks to accomplish the tasks.
Results had become a major concern for Zimbabwe after they lost against Associate teams, Namibia and Uganda at the recent T20 World Cup qualifier, where they became the only Full Member to miss out on the 2024 tournament.

Prior to that, the Chevrons also lost to Scotland at the ODI World Cup Qualifiers in July on home soil. Zimbabwe had earlier in the competition beat West Indies and Houghton’s methods seemed to be working before everything fell apart in the last hurdle.

Houghton’s major highlight came last year when he took Zimbabwe to the T20 World Cup in Australia and led the team into the Super 12s.

That tournament (2022 T20 World Cup) is the only World Cup finals out of a possible five that Zimbabwe have featured in the last five years. They missed out on the 2019 and 2023 50-over World Cups and 2021 and 2024 T20 World Cups. As a consequence of not being at the 2023 World Cup, they will also not play in the 2025 Champions Trophy, which leaves their next opportunity for a men’s World Cup in 2026 at the T20 event.

Houghton is said to have admitted that “he lost the change room” and that a new voice was now needed. – @brandon_malvin