Zim Cricket confronts dark past

Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani feels the association has made great strides in addressing the historical challenges of racism in the sport after it emerged recently that some players, current and former, still need closure on the sad chapter.

Selection problems based on one’s skin colour provided the biggest recipe for the destructive politics that haunted domestic cricket, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Recently, former players David Mutendera and Mpumelelo Mbangwa revisited the dark past with contrasting observations in Dean Du Plessis’ Dean at Stumps cricket podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google.

Black players often alleged they were victims of racism in the selection policies of the day and were usually made to fight for one slot in the 11-member team.

There were also allegations that some senior players would threaten to boycott international matches because of the inclusion of one talented young black player.

Mukuhlani told The Herald that it was unfortunate the game went through such horrors. He also urged victims of such malpractices, whether black or white, to share their stories so that closure is found.

“You would not wish that to happen to anybody, whether black or white. What we have been fighting for all these years is to create a level playing field for everyone.

“In our selection policy, we don’t have to count how many black players or how many white players are in the team but what we just want is a winning team,” said Mukuhlani.

“It’s very unfortunate the leadership at that time paid a blind eye to these issues. They didn’t want them to be discussed openly and what that created at the end of the day was a big problem. I know that when these things are spoken about, sometimes the tone is filled with emotions and therefore misinterpreted as targeting a certain group for revenge or anything like that.

“But I think when people talk about these things, they want closure. These things happened and they have to be spoken about so that the younger generations take it as a learning curve since we do not want a repeat of such mistakes.

“It’s also important because it gives us the leadership a chance to look at the system and find ways how to fix the problems if they still exist,” said Mukuhlani.

Mutendera, who is now ZC’s convenor of selectors, said many black players had their careers curtailed by the institutionalised racial segregation.

“Some people might think otherwise but it was very difficult. We just had to be as twice as good as the white player to actually make the team.

“Even in First Class cricket we had to take a lot of wickets. I had to make the World XI team for me to recognised so that I could play for the national team,” said Mutendera.

Mbangwa gave a contrasting view. While admitting to the politics of the day, he maintained he was selected on merit.

“With regards to quota, players and picking players because they were black, or because there was a need for black representation, I really don’t think that it started in earnest,’’ he said. “I mean, I don’t think it was a subject until probably about the year 2000 — this is from my own memory. And, by that, I mean (before 2000) it wasn’t spoken about and it wasn’t advanced as a necessity.”

A former provincial administrator told The Herald that selection was indeed marred by the racial undertones.

“I think the issue is not about being picked on merit or not because everyone who played for Zimbabwe was good enough but the issue was that the black players were never given the chance to play together in one team.

“Mpumelelo Mbangwa, David Mutendera, Victor Olonga, Trevor Madondo and Brighton Watambwa in one team could have made a winning team. But the problem was that they were hardly played together in one team. They would never put four good black players in one team,” he said.

The current limited overs interim captain Chamu Chibhabha also addressed the issue in his solidarity message with the Black Lives Matter movement recently.

“As I take a stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, I do so with the hope that the global fight against the dehumanisation of black people will also see us as the cricket fraternity reflecting on and confronting the evils of racism in our sport.