Streak feels 'let down' by Taibu

Heath Streak: Tatenda Taibu 'wasn't totally blind to what was going on' © Getty Images

The former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak says he feels let down by the way his successor Tatenda Taibu took over the captaincy. In a break with his usually cautious public statements, Streak has told TWC that he had tried to warn Taibu of "what was actually happening" at the Zimbabwe Cricket Union but that his advice had been ignored.

Streak says of Taibu that he "didn't have an issue with him accepting the captaincy," but was upset that Taibu had not wanted to listen to his grievances with the ZCU. "I do feel let down," says Streak. "I don't normally have a go at people but I feel hurt that he didn't make a little bit more effort to find out what was actually happening especially as I made an effort to speak to him about it."

Fifteen white players, including Streak, are still boycotting the Zimbabwe national side, although in July they agreed to the ICC's demand to go into arbitration with the Zimbabwe board. Their boycott is a continuing protest at what they claim is selection on racial and regional criteria, and widespread corruption and incompetence in the ZCU management. Streak says the issues go wider than the fate of the white players, arguing that talented black players from outlying regions like Matabeleland are being discriminated against by the Harare-based selectors.

Taibu was appointed after the ZCU announced that Streak had resigned, although Streak denies handing in his resignation. On assuming the captaincy, Taibu said: "I never sat at any of the meetings between the team officials and the board, so I am unaware of any of the issues which caused the friction."

But Streak refutes this, saying that Taibu had attended a meeting with ZCU directors during his stand-off with the cricket authorities. "I know for a fact he was involved in one of the meetings Vince Hogg had arranged, so he wasn't totally blind to what was going on. But maybe he looked at is as `it's got nothing to do with me'."

However, Streak agrees that Taibu had been put in a precarious position. "Tatenda's come from a very disadvantaged background and some players have been threatened with their careers. I would think that a very strong feeling at the back of Tatenda's mind is that if he stands up against these guys - a lot of whom were involved in getting him to where he is now - he would be risking his future." Without the same contacts outside cricket as some of the white players, Taibu would have more to lose than most. "For a lot of us whites cricket's not the be all and end all in terms of opportunities," says Streak. "I'm not saying he doesn't have ability but it would be tougher for him to get involved in something other than cricket."