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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
Sports and Recreation Commission board chairman Gerald Mlotshwa says the door is open for the suspended Zimbabwe Cricket board to approach them formally to find a lasting solution to the crisis that has gripped the local game.
Speaking on Capitalk FM programme, hosted by renowned cricket commentator Dean Du Plessis, Mlotshwa said the key to the resolution of the matter lies in dialogue between the Sports Commission and the suspended board members since the contentious matters were largely in-house.
“Let’s put things in context. There was a directive issued by the SRC. That directive was disobeyed. There were consequences to that and those are the consequences that we are seeing now.
“The SRC, chaired by myself, takes full responsibility for the decisions that it has made. The people on the other side, I am talking about the suspended directors, must also take full responsibility for their own actions and I think we have made it clear as SRC from our various statements.
“We have read the letter from the ICC, we have seen what it said. It is not directed to the SRC, the interim committee nor the Government. It is directed to the suspended board and it was for them to approach us.
“We have not said go away. Yes, there are representations made to the Minister and she has also not said go away. She is open, we are open and we are simply saying come let us talk.
“There is no point in going on social media or writing faceless statements. Make the formal approach, we are not going to slam the door in your face. We want to make decisions that are in the long term interest of cricket,” said Mlotshwa.
Zimbabwean athletes have suffered the brunt of the ICC sanctions.
Recently, four Lady Chevrons players and their coach Adam Chifo were barred from being part of the ICC Women’s Global Development Squad for a series of Twenty20 games against the Kia Super League teams in England.
Cricket official Langton Rusere also lost a lifetime opportunity after he was dropped from the panel of umpires set to stand in the bilateral series between West Indies and India starting this weekend.
“We want the women to play. We want them to go to the Qualifier but we must understand that there must be a process to that. Let’s not have knee-jerk reactions to situations,’’ said Mlotshwa.
“I have indicated and emphasised this to say that as SRC we are open and I have said it, the suspended board, you know what you need to do.
‘’You cannot ‘unsuspend’ yourselves, you know that. You know who it is that can do that. Approach that authority, approach it with sincerity and when you do that you will be surprised at how quickly things will move.
“I keep emphasising this approach-approach because people are saying, well SRC why don’t you do it yourselves? It is because of this, if you go back to the ICC constitution it allows government interference where a member association asks for it and that’s where we are coming from.
“I don’t want to dictate to them as to what they should do. What they must simply do formally, not on WhatsApp, tweets and Facebook or whatever else . . . is to formally approach the SRC and say can we talk?
‘’And we say, yes we want to talk. Do you want to resolve this situation? Yes, of course we want to but let’s do it in a way that does not result in how we got here in the first place, with the ICC not saying now you are speaking to SRC and now that is government interference. ‘’Let’s do it procedurally.
“Come to us and let’s resolve this but let’s resolve it with the involvement of the ICC so that whatever we resolve has the endorsement of the ICC.
“Let me emphasise this, there was a deadline for the suspended board to reinstate. That deadline in October 8. I am looking at a resolution of these issues before that date. Take the first step and see how quickly things move.’’
ZC members of staff have not been heeding the calls by the interim committee to report for duty.
Online Reporter