Dirty tricks further tarnish Zimbabwe's image

A letter released today in support of Macsood Ebrahim Click here for larger copy © Cricinfo

The gloves are off in the battle for control of Zimbabwe Cricket, and it seems almost anything goes, with both sides in the dispute accusing the other of dirty tricks, and the newspapers clearly taking sides in the battle.

Earlier this week, Macsood Ebrahim, the chairman of Masvingo and the head of national selection, told of how the ZC board was forcing pro-board loyalists into key positions in his province in a bid to oust him.

On Wednesday, Ebrahim reported that Lazarus Zizhou, who had been suspended by the board in 2004, had arrived at Masvingo and said he was taking over as general manager under orders from Ozias Bvute, the controversial ZC managing director.

Less than 24 hours later, Zizhou's name was all over the newspapers, claiming that he had been racially abused by Ebrahim. "Macsood stormed into my office and threatened to remove me," Zizhou told the Independent yesterday. "He called me a black c*** after I refused to produce my letter of appointment as he was demanding. I could not cooperate with him because he has no power to do so since he was booted out by the province."

While pro-board newspapers have claimed that Ebrahim has been ousted by his own province, that is disputed by many inside Masvingo.

The timing of Zizhou's allegation was suspicious, and while Ebrahim is not stranger to controversy himself, he has been at the heart of Zimbabwe's attempts to push for racial quotas in the national side which made the claims all the more surprising.

Today, Ebrahim's supporters in Masvingo rallied behind him and issued a letter suggesting that, in front of five witnesses, Zizhou actually abused Ebrahim.

How ZC deals with this remains to be seen. It is already under fire for not taking any action over allegations of racial threats made by Mashonaland chairman Cyprian Mandenge and provincial selector Bruce Makovah when they stopped a match in Harare. Last week, further serious allegations were made to the board over the conduct of Themba Mliswa, the chairman of the newly-created Mashonaland West province.

There appears to be a concerted attempt to oust certain provincial chairmen following a meeting which produced a dossier asking ZC many probing questions and demanding an Extraordinary General Meeting. Aside from Ebrahim, Alan Walsh, the chairman of Manicaland, was reported dismissed after a fractious meeting, but again this is disputed by provincial officials.