Another insult to democracy

Zimbabwe Cricket's announcement of the new boards for the freshly-created provinces is the final nail in the coffin of democracy inside the country's cricketing hierarchy. Overnight, the last opposition to the Peter Chingoka regime has been sent into exile and replaced by people with little cricketing pedigree who are a chip off the same block.

"You can say without any fear that this is the last stage of a political and racial purge," a stakeholder told me. "None of the old provincial chairmen have been consulted, and no one who has been critical of Chingoka and [Ozias] Bvute has been included."

The writing was on the wall from last month's announcement that the five established provinces were being scrapped and replaced. Most had been a thorn in Chingoka's side for some time, and their chairmen were at the vanguard of moves to oust him as Zimbabwe Cricket chairman last year. Now all such opposition has been removed.

"I guess it doesn't take much addition and subtraction to conclude that if the current administration were to abolish the `dissident' voices by abolishing the provinces they govern then that virtually makes them toothless," explained Henry Olonga. "Without voting rights this would leave them powerless to effect the change Zimbabwe cricket so desperately needs. One can conclude that this action by the interim board is just another decision revolving around the fight for survival of the executive."

The ten new provincial associations and their boards have all been appointed by ZC. These unelected bodies, who claim to have the authority to represent all the country's stakeholders, will then draw up the constitutions they are to operate under, pending the ZC AGM at which they will all vote themselves into formal existence. It might not pass muster as democracy anywhere else in the world, but in Zimbabwe it's as good as it gets.

It mattered little that the existing boards pointed out that under ZC's own rules, the move was utterly unconstitutional. Once the AGM is held, that minor obstacle will also be out of the way.

A handful of the names trumpeted by ZC are familiar - Stan Staddon, Cyprian Mandenge, Crispen Tsvarai - but none is at all likely to ask of the probing questions which many have been demanding answers to for so long. The rest are largely nonentities in cricket terms, but it continues the hemorrhaging of almost anyone with cricketing know-how and experience from the game.

"None include those who dared to ask about accountability, and none of the old provincial chairmen and administrators has been asked to participate," said Charlie Robertson, who headed the chairmen of the disbanded provinces. "The whole cricket fraternity has been side lined. Not one of the board members is from a cricketing background, nor even played first-class or provincial cricket. I suspect only Mandenge has even played at all. The whole thing has now descended into a pathetic and farcical situation from which I fear there will be now way back as it is driven by avarice and politics."

The one name that highlights how rotten things are is that of Themba Mliswa, the new chairman of Mashonaland West. Most things he has been involved in have been sullied - a search of Google will reveal the full extent of his past - and it was he who threatened Tatenda Taibu last year, the act which led to Taibu's retirement. Only last month, he verbally attacked Chingoka, but it seems that he has enough friends in high places to ensure that he is included in this brave new world.

Few would want a return to the bad old days when whites ran every facet of the game. But just as that was wrong, so is what is happening now. The irony is that while every other area of cricket has been purged, even ZC realises that removing whites from the national side would make it more of an embarrassment that it already is. So, the purge stops at the boundary edge and the predominantly white side carries on. For now.

What almost defies belief is that the ICC will continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening and probably welcome Chingoka's initiatives in sorting out his local difficulties. After all, no irritating disputes or revolting stakeholders must mean everything is fine and dandy, surely?

When, in a few years time, the great and good of the game sit down to ask why there is no more meaningful cricket being played inside Zimbabwe, they will only have themselves to blame. The ICC had a chance to step in and at least try to stop the decline, but it preferred to sit back, do nothing and carry on pouring cash into the country. The reasons for that are as complex as the politics which now dominate and drive the sport.

Another former player shrugged when asked for his thoughts. "They have got away with this manipulation for so long that even if the ICC were to get off their asses and make a decision, it's too late for cricket here," he said. Until recently, there were been enough committed people ready to fight. With little international support, they have slowly given up, and the provincial restructuring will probably see off the remaining few.

The irony is that all the time the ICC has been trumpeting its expansion of the game across the globe, it has allowed one of its most high-profile assets to self destruct.