Sunday 29 June 2008

Whither Zimbabwe?


The wound has been festering long enough and chucking Zimbabwe out of the Full Members league looks a fait accompli as ICC goes into a huddle in Dubai.

I don't doubt the reasons either. Probably Mugabe stands for all the vices of the world and the money meant for the players are finding their way to Peter Chingoka's account too. So ICC should not be worried about any backlash even if they slam the door on Zimbabwe.

But what about the players?

Will it force Brendon Taylor come Brendon the tailor? Hamilton Masakadza once put his career on hold to pursue a university degree. Will the decision mean complete abandoning of his craft? Can anyone guarantee that Mluleki Nkala, Kadoma's poster boy, would not return to his Ndebele tribe? Maybe 'Psych', who scalped Tendulkar with only his second ball in international cricket, would be spending the rest of his life washing toilets at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport to feed his 13 siblings.

In all probability, it would be end of all roads for Chamu Chibhabha and his sister Julia, captain of their women's team, as well. Probably their worried parents would tell them to stop dreaming pie in the sky and do something more pragmatic.

I fear, Prosper Utseya would remain an embarrassing misnomer. I won't be surprised either if Blessing Mahwire goes haywire. Having once remodelled his action, he may now need to remodel his career altogether. Tatenda Taibu, understandably, would be frugal with the USD 125,000 he generated from the IPL auction, while Henry Olonga would continue to oblige the British media from his base in exile.

Does anyone see the road ahead? Is there one at all?

Image: BBC

13 comments:

Gaurav Sethi said...

the road to nowhere
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/talking+heads/road+to+nowhere_20135072.html

som, zim cricketers are in the red - the picture, players' names, very evocative. Won't evoke for much longer.
Zim cricket, and the Constant Gardener, an eerie similarity.

Anonymous said...

good point dude... what about the cricket... no suggestions on improving it... all they talk is cutting funding and how does that help these guys. Surely there may be solutions to wipe away that so called corruption like the ICC directly paying the players and administrators rather than leaving it to someone local to handle that... but of course they are not interested in the cricket.

straight point said...

at last you have decided to give 'darshan' to us mortals SOM!!

however we try to separate game from politics...we cant...

its unfortunate...but zim has to go...only today i was reading a news story in TOI of how they have not spared even infant of an opposition lady...

Som said...

NC, nice lines...thanks for the link

Som said...

Scorpicty, I don't defend Chingoka and Co but ECB wants us to believe that by not allowing them play cricket, you can solve the problem.

Som said...

SP, I too read that story, quite gory. Do whatever you can to the Mugabes and Chingokas, but what happens to the cricketers?

straight point said...

som when the war is on the soldier who get shot are not your enemies...

even if one pump in the money...one cant be sure its wisely spent with the state of current affairs at zim...

Homer said...

SP,

Do you want a catalog of the human rights abuses in Afghanistan and Iraq?

What about Northern Ireland?

And what about the Tampa incident?

Everyone has blood on their hands... And Mugabe will go sooner rather than later - what then?

What are the criteria to bring back Zimbabwe into the fold when that happens?

Cheers,

Som said...

SP, soldiers kill and get killed. But cricketers only play and still get killed...I mean banned. Corruption is rampant in other boards as well and this is not how one should try to get rid of corruption. Regarding Zimbabwe's political crisis, I'm not sure if ICC is the right body to address the issue.

straight point said...

hmmm...valid points som...

if my memory serves me right i read one story that their national players were forced to take cars (on very inflated prices) against their payments...it that is true i can very well understand the plight of lesser level players...

icc cant control their board...neither they can curb corruption there...cricketers over there are not going to get or even getting the facilities they require...they are getting exploited anyway...

i think rather than completely shut the door they should suspend zim for indefinite period...(till mugabe meets his natural justice)...

Anonymous said...

None of this had happened if Mugabe had not evicted white farmers,this quota system is only an excuse.
Sports sanctions are being use as a foreign policy tool to isolate enemies.

Som said...

Wasim, therein lies the tragedy. Anyway, you need a more potent body than ICC to oust Mugabe, isn't it?

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