News

Old politics rear their head in Matabeleland

Steven Price reports on how not everyone is happy to see old faces return to play in Zimbabwe

Despite all the positive talk after the first round of the Zimbabwe's new domestic tournaments, the Sunday Mail has suggested that beneath the surface all it not as happy as it might appear.
The story centres around the Matabeleland Tuskers who, it is claimed, have fired administrator Joshua Paul and replaced him with former selection panel member Vumindaba Moyo.
As ever, the row seems to centre around a strategy which continues to cause fallout inside Zimbabwe, that of luring back former players and administrators as the game is rebuilt from the dark days of 2004 to 2007.
The initiative has the full support of Zimbabwe Cricket, but some are less amenable to the idea that bygones should be bygones. Paul, so the paper claims, went too far in his approaches and was ousted by more hardline members of the Tuskers management.
Stanley Staddon, the Tuskers' chief executive, reportedly told a franchise board meeting ZC had ordered Paul to be dismissed, but Paul himself insists the order came directly from Staddon. When questioned by the Sunday News Staddon rather bizarrely said he had "no idea" what had happened to Paul. Staddon has history with the News, and has previously attempted to ban its reporters from covering matches
Given that ZC has actively sought to mend bridges in the last year, it seems highly unlikely it would act in this way. Furthermore, from the outset ZC has maintained that the franchises have full autonomy, and so any interference from it would completely undermine its position.
Moyo was one of the national selectors ousted after an ICC report criticised the lack of experience on the panel.

Steven Price is a freelance journalist based in Harare