Zimbabwe Captain and Coaching Staff get the sack

[Richard Pryor]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_...icket-sacks-captain-cremer-all-coaching-staff

After giving them an ultimatum to step down by 3pm on Friday, Zimbabwe Cricket have sacked its entire coaching staff following an unsuccessful World Cup qualifier campaign. The captain Graeme Cremer was another high-profile casualty with reports in the Zimbabwean press suggesting Brendan Taylor will take over leadership of the team.

In addition to the national coaching staff - head coach Heath Streak, batting coach Lance Klusener, bowling coach Douglas Hondo, fielding coach Walter Chawaguta, fitness coach Sean Bell and team analyst Stanley Chioza - all other coaching staff, including the Zimbabwe A coach Wayne James and Under-19 coach Stephen Mangongo have been booted out. Convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu has also stripped of his position.

In an email sent to Streak on Thursday evening, Zimbabwe Cricket MD Faisal Hasnain wrote: "Further to our discussions, please give your technical staff (and yourself included) until 3pm tomorrow to formally resign. After which time the technical team can consider themselves dismissed and relieved of their duties with immediate effect."

Streak and his staff refused to resign, on the principle that they did not consider their overall work a failure - Zimbabwe's ODI win-loss percentage under Streak was 37.5%, significantly more than the 22.6% Zimbabwe achieved between April 2014 and October 2016, when Streak took over - and decided to let the board make their decision.

Streak conveyed his disappointment in a brief conversation with ESPNcricinfo. "For everything I have given Zimbabwe Cricket, as a former player and a coach, to be given an email with no full explanation or even the courtesy of a hearing is something I didn't expect," Streak said. "I understand that every coach's tenure will come to an end, but we should at least have been given the chance to give our comments and ask some questions. I was looking to take the team to the World T20 in 2020."

Streak is the only one with alternative employment at the moment. He was appointed the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach for this year's edition of the IPL.

The mass purge is mostly a result of Zimbabwe missing out on the 2019 World Cup, after a three-run defeat to UAE in the final Super Six match, but will no doubt also be related to finances. Zimbabwe Cricket is muddling through another monetary crunch, only made worse by the fact that they will not be participating in the World Cup.

ZC staff, including the players who were attempting to qualify for the World Cup, were only paid 40% of their salaries in February. But with Streak and Klusener accepting 40% of theirs, the squad was eventually paid in full for their work during the month. No salaries will be paid in March, as ZC looks to make up the deficit in salaries to the rest of its staff.

Possible reason beyond missing the WC being Cremer busting a Zimbabwe cricket official for being a match fixer?

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2018/03/icc-suspends-zim-match-fixer-for-20-years/

Alex Marshall, general manager with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit, said: “I welcome the result of the investigation and the substantial sanction imposed upon Nayar. It is important that the seriousness of his offences was reflected in the length of the ban.

“I would like to place on record my thanks to Graeme Cremer, who has acted with the utmost professionalism throughout this process. Immediately after he received the approach from Nayar he reported it to the ICC and we were able to get an investigation underway swiftly. Graeme has been involved and updated throughout the investigation and has played a critical role in ensuring that corruption has no place in our sport.”


Cremer himself expressed surprise that a well-known official had acted in such a manner. “I was appalled to be approached by someone so closely connected to the game and there was no doubt in my mind that I had to report it as soon as I could. We receive education around this which you never expect to have to use, but it certainly helped when it came to knowing what to do.”

 

[The Speaker]

Bad, sad news. Neither the captain nor the coaching staff - many of whom were involved in the early 2000s Zimbabwe team - is really at fault for Zimbabwe missing the World Cup.

It was the board who sat there in agreement with the Big Three when the ten team World Cup was proposed, and who happily accepted the ICC's proposal to host the WCQ, thinking that they would cruise through. The reality is that the teams below them are much, much closer in skills than they used to be, which has a lot more to do with their improvement than with Zimbabwe getting worse. This Zimbabwe team is basicaly the best it can be right now, and if they lose a bunch of players they'll be back to square one.

 

[The_Reaper]

Problem is that Zimbabwe don't have the money to keep them on after missing the world cup.

 

[Hellgood]

Sad given the improvements they've made over the past year. It felt as though there was finally some momentum in behind them with players rejoining the setup, a cohesive coaching group coming together and a some stirring victories across the formats. Not least the enthusiastic support of the crowds coming out in numbers for the recent qualifier.

The reasonably high profile coaching group going is one thing that might have been (sadly) understandable given the finance issues, but on field Cremer has been outstanding as a leader.

Shit outcome all round.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Expensive bed-shitting against UAE, it seems.

 

[Sammo360]

The ZC boss is a man of his word. This article from last month after the poor performances in the UAE. Zimbabwe are at a great advantage compared to the associate teams.
http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/cricket-boss-breathes-fire/

Pretty sad all round.

 

[Sammo360]

ZC statement:

It is important that the public understands why the ZC Board has taken these decisions. The actions taken by the Board are only and purely as a result of the very unsatisfactory performances and results of the Zimbabwe National team, the Zimbabwe ‘A’ team and the Zimbabwe Under-19 team.

“The Board believes that things have come to a point where bad performances and bad results cannot be absorbed with a shrug of the shoulders and considered as business as usual.

The stakeholders, the fans and in fact the entire Nation of Zimbabwe deserve better, much better in terms of performances and results from their National cricket teams.

The ZC Board has not taken these decisions lightly. It well understands the professional and personal ramifications that this will have on the impacted staff and can appreciate and sympathise with their disappointments.

The Board also realises that the impacted staff all worked hard and tried to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. However, the Board also realises that their best was not good enough. Certain important decisions taken by senior technical staff do, in the Board’s opinion, call into question the judgment and ability of the concerned staff to make such crucial decisions.

This has resulted in a collective loss of confidence in the technical teams. The National team’s performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, as well as in the Bangladesh (won one, lost three) and Afghanistan (won one, lost six) tours immediately preceding the tournament, were highly unsatisfactory.

In the Qualifier, where ZC had home advantage, the team just barely scraped past Afghanistan in a match that they perhaps should have lost, tied against Scotland in a match that they perhaps should have also lost and were behind on points against Ireland at the halfway mark.

And the Board finally lost patience and confidence in the Head Coach and his technical staff after questionable decisions were made in the critical must-win Super Six match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which ultimately sealed ZC’s fate.

This was the most important match that ZC was playing in years (at home against an Associate team) and the Board believes that the planning, strategy and execution adopted for this game was beyond reasonable comprehension and, in fact, way off the mark.

As far as the ‘A’ team is concerned, the ‘A’ team and Development team suffered some disastrous results, including a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the UAE and a winless run in the Africa T20 Cup in South Africa (against provincial sides).

To say that this was very disappointing is putting it very mildly. Regarding the Under-19 team performances, despite providing the coaching staff the best ever preparation, facilities and funding over a two-year period, which included expensive tours to Namibia, South Africa, Australia and India, and arriving in New Zealand two weeks earlier than normal to train, play extra games and acclimatise, the Under-19 side performed abysmally at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand where they finished in 11th place out of 16 teams.

And this was after the Head Coach promised management, not once but many times, at least a top-four finish at the event. Again, to say that this was very disappointing is putting it very mildly.

 

[The Speaker]

How convenient that their explanation completely absolves themselves of any blame whatsoever for the awful state of development in the country.

In reality, their results at their qualifier were about as good as they should've been. Are the better than the best Associates, or the newest full members? Not really.

 

[Sammo360]

http://www.davidcoltart.com/2018/04/...babwe-cricket/

Perhaps the new Zimbabwean President can intervene?

 

[The Speaker]

Hadn't heard about some of that stuff. What a joke.

 

[golions]

How did this happen?

They smashed Sri Lanka in SL only 6mo ago

 

[Belnakor]

Hadn't heard about some of that stuff. What a joke.

administration basically lining their pockets it seems. The sponsors were only interested in providing goods/services because they knew it was all corrupt.

Welcome to Africa.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

If they'd held off till the end of July their win/loss ratio might have looked a lot better

 

[Richard Pryor]

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2018/04/streak-reinstated-fired-again/

ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) yesterday reinstated national cricket team coaches before firing them later in the day after serving them with letters of termination of contracts following their refusal to step down from their posts.

lol

 

[Sammo360]

lol

Managing director also gone.

 

[The Speaker]

The fallout from Zimbabwe's failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup is threatening to go nuclear, with Zimbabwe Cricket losing its respected managing director Faisal Hasnain, and players threatening to strike during a planned tri-series against Australia and Pakistan in July unless they are paid their dues. Those are just two of the problems facing ZC chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, whose position has come under further scrutiny following his decision to run for political office. Mukuhlani is also facing a $1m libel suit from former coach Heath Streak for comments made in the media, in which he insinuated Streak's selection and management of the Zimbabwe team had been racially motivated.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-new...faisal-hasnain-has-stepped-down-from-his-post

 

[The Speaker]

It gets worse.

Zimbabwe's national players have fired a shot across the bows of Zimbabwe Cricket, demanding clarity on when they will be paid their money and threatening to put the upcoming triangular series with Australia and Pakistan in "serious jeopardy". In the first sign of collective action since a nascent players' union disintegrated in 2015, the nationally-contracted players have banded together to take on ZC over unpaid salaries, match fees and bonuses, choosing a prominent local lawyer, Gerald Mlotshwa, to spearhead their campaign.

In a letter addressed to ZC and copied to both the Ministry of Sport and the ICC, Mlotshwa gave ZC until noon on Wednesday (May 16) to provide a written undertaking as to when the outstanding money will be paid. Zimbabwe's players are owed match fees dating back to the tour of Sri Lanka last July, and have not received their salary for the past two months. For some players, this equates to more than USD 60,000.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-new...timatum-to-board-over-non-payment-of-salaries