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ZIMBABWE Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani has assured the nation that they are working hard on correcting the problems which are causing the senior national team’s poor performance.
Prior to the third One Day International against Afghanistan in United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe had lost the first two matches of a five match ODI contest against the International Cricket Council Associate member. This was after Dav Whatmore’s side suffered the humiliation of being beaten 3-2 in an ODI series by the Afghans in Bulawayo in October last year.
Mukuhlani said while they understand the concerns of the cricket lovers in the country, they were doing all they can to make sure that Whatmore gets all the technical assistance he needs for the team to start producing positive results.
The ZC boss disclosed that they were in the process of finding a batting as well as bowling coach and a specialist spin bowling mentor.
“We are beefing up the technical staff. We are working on getting a batting coach, bowling coach and a specialist spin coach. We are looking at players who have left to come back. Working flat out, we will review the tour against Afghanistan and make decisions.
“Every loss is painful, at any given time we want to win. Between September 2015 to date, we have played Pakistan, Ireland, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and now we are playing Afghanistan again. Comparisons are being made with periods when we were not playing, now they are playing, we can only establish where their strengths and weaknesses are. Our immediate task was to make sure we play more games,’’ Mukuhlani.
On the team’s unimpressive display against Afghanistan in UAE, Mukuhlani said they have been in touch with those who went on the tour, ZC vice-chairman Sylvester Machaka and board member William Chaitezvi who are expected to give their feedback.
Mukuhlani and chief executive officer Wilfred Mukondiwa last Thursday held a meeting with the Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhosini Hlongwane. The minister raised concerns over the team’s poor performance with the ZC leadership giving an assurance that they were doing all they could to address his worries.
While there have been calls for the ZC board to fire Sri Lanka born Australian Whatmore over the team’s pathetic results, their hands appear to be tied as the 61-year-old was given a four-year contract which is reviewed every two years. This means that ZC can only take action against the coach next year.
ZC have learnt from the mistake of firing a coach with a long time still remaining on their contract as they are still paying West Indian Philip Simmons who was sacked 11 years ago over the national team’s unsatisfactory results.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe kept the five-match One Day International series against Afghanistan alive when they triumphed by 117 runs in the third match played at Sharjah Cricket Ground in United Arab Emirates yesterday.
Veteran Hamilton Masakadza laid the foundation for victory with well crafted 83 runs from 138 deliveries with just two fours as Zimbabwe battled to 175 all out in 48.3 overs. This was after skipper Elton Chigumbura won the toss and chose to bat. The bowlers then did the splendid job with a magnificent display to blow Afghanistan away for 58 runs in 16.1 overs.
Pace bowler Luke Jongwe was the star performer with ball in hand as he picked up five wickets for an unbelievable six runs in 5.1 overs, at an economy rate of 1.16 runs per over. Jongwe was complemented by fellow seamer Neville Madziva who captured three wickets for 27 runs in six overs and left arm spinner Tendai Chisoro with two wickets for 18 runs in four overs.
Masakadza, who was later named man of the match, played like the veteran that he is, putting on a crucial 104 runs for the eighth wicket with Graeme Cremer who made a career best 58 runs off 75 balls, an innings made up of three fours and the same number of sixes. When the two started their eighth wicket stand, Zimbabwe had been reduced to 49 for seven wickets and when Cremer eventually went, the score was 153 for eight.
The two teams meet in the fourth ODI at the same venue tomorrow with Zimbabwe looking to level the series heading into the final match on Wednesday while for Afghanistan a win means they would have secured the contest with one fixture remaining.
derick.khumalo