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Teams like Zimbabwe have done well in the past. I wonder what happened to them.
Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, the racial and political strife that marked Robert Mugabe's rule even reached down into cricket. It started when Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands during the 2003 World Cup to protest the Mugabe regime. They had to flee Zimbabwe and to the best of my knowledge neither has ever returned. It continued when the Zimbabwe Cricket Union basically forced a couple of white players off the team to make way for black players. Some players who weren't forced off left anyway in protest.
And problems continue to this day with such issues as a domestic cricket official trying to bribe team members to throw matches, and the fact that the nobody seems to know where all the money given by the ICC to Zimbabwe Cricket goes. They're sometimes so cash-strapped they can't pay players' salaries and travel expenses. It's hard to attract top talent to play under those circumstances, plus the political climate in Zimbabwe has probably chased a lot of potential talent out of the country. I fear the same may start happening in South Africa too given the political winds there these days.
IMO the fact that Zimbabwe still has test status is a compelling argument for instituting a promotion/relegation system.
They're playing a 3-match ODI series and a 3-match T20 series against recent test upstarts Ireland in a couple weeks. It will be interesting to see how well they do, but even with their best cricketing days behind them I expect Zimbabwe will still take care of business against Ireland.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Badger
Wow, it's really quiet in here....
(crickets)
It wasn't quiet at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester yeaterday, when India played Pakistan in front if a global television audience of over 1 Billion people.
Teams like Zimbabwe have done well in the past. I wonder what happened to them.
And to follow up on my previous post on this subject... another issue the Zimbabwe team faces is, for better or worse, the root of their support has traditionally been the country's white population. That population has decreased nearly 90% in the last two decades. Zimbabwe Cricket has tried to get more of the black population interested in cricket -- that was their reasoning for instituting an affirmative action program for the team roster -- and it remains to be seen if enough of the remaining population can and will provide sufficient support to keep them competitive in the coming years.
And finally, for all his other faults, Mugabe is a big cricket fan so the sport had at least moral support from country's leadership (that is when the state wasn't using Zimbabwe Cricket as another piggy bank to be raided). I don't really know if the new leader has the same fealty for cricket.
And to follow up on my previous post on this subject... another issue the Zimbabwe team faces is, for better or worse, the root of their support has traditionally been the country's white population. That population has decreased nearly 90% in the last two decades. Zimbabwe Cricket has tried to get more of the black population interested in cricket -- that was their reasoning for instituting an affirmative action program for the team roster -- and it remains to be seen if enough of the remaining population can and will provide sufficient support to keep them competitive in the coming years.
And finally, for all his other faults, Mugabe is a big cricket fan so the sport had at least moral support from country's leadership (that is when the state wasn't using Zimbabwe Cricket as another piggy bank to be raided). I don't really know if the new leader has the same fealty for cricket.
Very True. I think that White & Indian population of Zimbabwe have emigrated to England, Australia.
In 1990s and early 2000s, Zimbabwe did produce magnificent cricketers. Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Douglas Mourilier, Neil Johnson, Campbell, Brandes I can remember.
I thought that once Mugabe is gone, things will return back to normal but the social damage to that country is permanent.
For Black kids, Cricket is not the game which they look up to. This is the same case whether it is Zimbabwe, South Africa, England or West Indies. Their Sporting heroes are not Cricketers for sure. You cannot have affirmative action in sports. I have seen this in South Africa where black players were forced into Cricket and Hockey teams and it didnt work. They love their Soccer / Athletics / Boxing/ Basketball there.
West Indies will also vanish soon. We might be seeing them for the last time in World Cup this year.
White Population of South Africa is sufficient enough to support this game right now.
This post is not meant to be Racist. Sad to write these words like "White" "Black" but this is how this game and target audience works.
It amazes me that how West Indies selected Russell in the playing X1 today while he was clearly struggling with fitness right from the first minute. Carlos Braithwaite was not selected who is a good bowler, batsman and fielder. West Indies players show great enthusiasm in IPL and ther T20 Franchise. they show all jiggles, dancing moves, celebrations in those leagues. While playing in West Indies team, they look stiff and unfit.
Pakistan has a new player Shaheen Afridi who looked a good fast bowler and fielder to me. Yet they are not selecting him in playing xi.
Many of the whites who left Zimbabwe ended up in South Africa... where they're facing the same political and cultural pressures all over again.
I'm not sure I agree with you about Windies. They may not be a serious threat to win the Cup any time soon but for now their level of play demonstrates they still belong among the big dogs. And whenever another team tours the Windies, there's pretty good turnout at the matches. Compare that for instance to the recent tri-series between Ireland, Windies, and Bangladesh in Ireland, where about 8 people showed up at each match.
Cricket need to expand beyond Commonwealth Countries.
Afghanistan is a good example. It is not a member of Commonwealth. Millions of Afghans have spent decades in Pakistan where they were exposed to Cricket in 1980s and 1990s. Good to see that they have developed a liking for the Sport. Otherwise Football (Soccer) is number one sport there.
Nepal can be another success story. They have some good players. It will not be difficult to attract 20 thousand spectators watching a One Day match in Nepal.
USA. Diaspora kids from Indian Subcontinent will one day propel USA in the field of Cricket. They are going to construct some good stadiums there.
I don't know that we'll ever get the volume of immigrants from the sub-continent to make the USA genuinely competitive. Of course they've made great contributions to the sport in other countries where they've planted themselves... so long as those countries already had a well-established cricketing tradition.
But when they arrive here, they find a country that has no meaningful cricket facilities, no infrastructure, no developmental programs, barely any local amateur leagues, and no interest whatsoever in developing these things. So the new arrivals are building it all from scratch with zero help from their adopted countrymen whose best potential cricket athletes will go on to play one of our other, very well-established (and in the case of the best athletes, very lucrative) sports. The descendants of the sub-continent immigrants? They too will likely become increasingly more involved in our more established sports with each successive generation.
I'm impressed Team USA earned ODI status and that should help hone their talent. But the fact that 22 members of the 27-man roster are immigrants highlights the challenge USA Cricket faces trying to develop home-grown talent in a country whose broader sports culture couldn't care less about cricket.
I don't know much about Nepal,but I do know Netherlands of all places and Scotland have pretty strong squads. I like Namibia too, they're a scrappy little bunch.
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