Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute said he could not understand why the likes of South Africa and England had frozen ties with his organization, while Zimbabweans continued to compete at international level in other leading sports.
Cricket South Africa’s action last week in cutting bilateral links with its neighbor, after Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential election in order to prevent his supporters being subject to fresh attacks by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s regime, set off a chain of cricket events.
Ray Mali, the South African president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), moved to have the whole issue of Zimbabwe’s status added to the agenda of next week’s meeting of the global governing body in Dubai. Meanwhile, English officials, with the backing of the British government, called off Zimbabwe’s planned tour of England next year. Government ministers also called for Zimbabwe to be excluded from next year’s Twenty20 World Cup in England.
But Bvute, writing in a letter sent to all members of the ICC executive, said it was wrong to impose sporting sanctions for political reasons. However critics, including former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, have repeatedly argued that Zimabawe Cricket’s close ties with the ruling ZANU-PF party mean it is not an independent sporting body.
“We [Zimbabwe] are a full member of FIFA and are currently participating in a World Cup qualifying campaign,” Bvute told BBC Radio on Saturday. “We have a swimming program which has produced Kirsty Coventry, a recent winner in the world championships, so it would be strange that the only sport to take action on so-called current worries is cricket, when all the other world sporting bodies have not taken that stance.”
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s meeting, Bvute said: “I cannot speculate on the outcome, but we have obviously noted the actions of others. Over the last few years there have been problems between England and Zimbabwe. This is not a new phenomena.”
And as for the social turmoil within Zimbabwe, Bvute said: “I think at the end of the day that’s a matter for the politicians to speak and decide on. We are not politicians and we are not qualified to speak on these issues.”
Zimbabwe, which effectively suspended itself from Test cricket because of a collapse in playing standards brought about by a race row over selection, remains an active one-day international side. They have long enjoyed the support of India, cricket’s financial powerhouse, and the Asian giant’s stance in Dubai is likely to be critical in shaping Zimbabwe’s immediate cricket future on the world stage.
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