1st ODI Zimbabwe v Afghanistan

I am not too gloomy as I think this is the reality of where the country is as an economy which will always impact the cricket.

My biggest concern is our ability to get fixtures against Full Members moving forwards.

Sorry but that's not true. In what way do you think the economy affects our cricket? At a push it may reduce corporate sponsorship, but there's plenty of big companies coining it and they're not interested. That's right up there with blaming non existent sanctions. Afghanistan have been engaged in a low level war for years on a fraction of our money and they're OK.

Moving forwards? They've dodged us for many years and after this season they will only play us if forced to do so. We're practically a club side.

Next on the list is top associates avoiding us.

The economy (and the state of the country in general) has obviously mirrored itself in our cricket over the years and has had an impact at various times. It's definitely a hindrance.

But...... Afghanistan have a seemingly even worse economy than Zimbabwe and worse political situation and their cricket is fine. Plus we get double the ICC grant that they do. So the economy/politics can't be a total excuse.....

How exactly? We get given millions of US dollars. If ever a business was mostly independent of an economy this is it.

Well the poor economy affects cricket In a whole load of ways surely.

Commercial interest being the main one. A much stronger economy presents a much greater range of opportunities for commercial partners and funding etc. Although absolutely the main problem here is that the few companies interested enough and rich enough to put any money into the game have been scared off by ZC’s years of incompetence so yeah fair enough. But the economic situation is still a factor to an extent. Or has been in the rougher years anyway.

Problems with water supplies, energy supplies - have all affected facilities management. Difficulty importing equipment with sanctions etc too.

Economic situation of players/families/parents has a huge effect too. Young kids from poor families struggle to play and get access to anything. If we were a richer country this would be less of a problem for the majority.

Most old cricket-playing schools are bankrupt.

Even at club level. It’s difficult to expect players to pay subs as they would anywhere else in the world as the vast majority are otherwise unemployed. So therefore ZC ends up having to fund the entire club system at every level across the country - this is not the case elsewhere. Part of the problem here is peoples attitudes but for sure the economic situation doesn’t help.

I’m not saying it’s the biggest thing and as I noted, Afghanistan is an even worse country and they still manage but surely economics/politics does contribute to an extent?

I can’t remember if it was Ngarava or Muzarabani but one of them did an interview a couple of years back about how they used to walk for 4-hours to get to training and begged on the street for money to buy equipment.

Didn’t Mudzinganyama have to borrow pads from the Sri Lankans during his Test debut because he didn’t have any?

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sun Jun 05, 2022 9:35 pm

I can’t remember if it was Ngarava or Muzarabani but one of them did an interview a couple of years back about how they used to walk for 4-hours to get to training and begged on the street for money to buy equipment.

Didn’t Mudzinganyama have to borrow pads from the Sri Lankans during his Test debut because he didn’t have any?

Ok this last one has nothing to do with the economy, if its even true. If ZC allowed a guy to make a test debut without kit then we're establishing who really is at at fault. Did he ever attend a practice or was his name drawn out of a hat? That's just shameful from ZC and we've seen it before with Bootgate. If this is the state of it we're f***ed. It should be a checklist- do these guys have underpants, do they have any friends that will lend them any? OK we're not prepared to buy underpants so lets pick a guy who owns a pair. Is this guy so useless that he can't borrow a pair because if he's that stupid he ain't gonna make a single run.

The guys walking and begging will also mostly not be impacted by the economy. Poor people will mostly remain poor in Africa. Poor people remain on minimum wage regardless, and continue to vote for who keeps them there. They won't spend money on a kid wanting to play an expensive sport. That's one of the reasons you have to encourage and assist wealthier schools to play. That's our base, as it is in every other country. Give high performance boys $4 to travel. If you're not going to give them $4 the grand noises about starting fancy Academies is lies.

ZC will proudly tell that story of Blessing s***ting off as if he's conquered all odds when in fact ZC should be helping him. Someone at ZC should be sacked for it. Dozens of well paid Development coaches and yet you have to fuckin walk to find one 😂 Am I the only one that sees the nonsense of this? In the real world he'd have been identified by a coach who isn't a moron, head office would have been notified and at the very absolute minimum least he'd be given a bicycle or a travel allowance, not a newspaper story saying - check this guy out- we did f**k all to help him and yet here he is. Be like Blessing

Lack of water and electricity doesn't affect cricket too much. The quality of the ground, yes, but whether it's played or not, no.

No sanctions here bud. You can buy what you like from wherever you like. If you needed an anti tank missile from Ukraine it can be done. A lawnmower is a piece of p**s.

Economy affecting families, access to schools, ability of schools to play cricket. Absolutely. Give any gov school a decent cash donation and see if they play cricket. Not one I'm afraid. The headmaster will buy himself a mini-bus and start a business. They need to be spoon-fed. No initiative or buy in from the parent body. I'm not being mean, it's what happens all the time.

ZC destroyed club cricket deliberately with a view to controlling who voted and to stick it to the whites who enjoyed the game. Years later they're wondering who's going to resurrect it as the voting threat has gone and people have gotten used to getting free everything. And they need club cricket. They destroyed the very thing that was the engine room of our cricket. Now they want someone else to fix it 😂 Doesn't work like that.

But I agree wholeheartedly that clubs are now buggered partly from poor attendance from whites who kept every single section going. The club culture is now dead and buried. That's now up to the black community in most clubs. Requires people to pay money. I also agree that most can't afford the subs. It's a problem.

Lack of commercial interest is solely lack of trust from the few large companies that may have an interest, most of whom have a white involvement. Rich black companies sponsor soccer. Zero interest in cricket.

The poor economy is not a major factor, plays a small part though, not disputing that.

Economy of a country matters to a little extent I agree but it is not entirely to blame.

Afghanistan is a classic example, they've literally rised to prominence while going through a war and terrible crisis. In fact I admire their players for this. Pakistan have had their problems with terror attacks and fluctuating economy but they have done incredibly well. Sri Lanka are presently going through a deep economic crisis but their cricket is doing good.

On the other hand Ireland, Netherlands, UAE, Scotland, Oman are developed countries and yet their cricket has struggled or more or less remained same with small improvements, but i completely understand this and cricket is not a widely followed sport in these countries.

So it is not entirely about a countries economy, it has more to do with how cricket is run, and we all know how ZC has messed up things in the past. If they were a good and reputed organization then I'm sure a lot of players would have stayed.

No you're mostly wrong, thats way too simplistic. Those better players that were offered scholarships went to play a higher standard of cricket as there were and are limited cricketing opportunities here. Nothing to do with the economy. They also had university opportunities.

Myers and Murray went for tertiary education, again nothing to do with the economy.

The players who go to SA on scholarships, same as above.

There is a tier of players that do go overseas and play club. Firstly they get paid to play and they want to travel. We're land locked and isolated. Australians and New Zealanders do the same, and their economies are just fine. South Africans also do it, particularly the white lads because most pathways are blocked, but perhaps for the very best. They'll all be paid anywhere between £200-£400 per game just for club cricket plus accommodation. That's way better than our franchise players get. This level of cricketer often comes back and as a rule they're not absolutely top drawer. Tony munyonga is an example, except I think he's a damned fine player, waaay better than your average clubbie.

If the economy was better, the question is would players play club supported by a job? A few guys have jobs here, are happy to play club, but don't want to pay the subs as its a fair whack out of their earnings. Club life is a culture and it doesn't exist here. Most guys here don't live adjacent to their clubs, that's probably the main problem.

Emigration is a problem from all Third World countries. Millions cant wait to wheelspin out and usually straight tobthe country they profess to hate, but the number of players that have emigrated and been successful at cricket elsewhere are tiny, especially amongst the black community. A small handful of white boys have had limited careers.

We have no depth because 6 high schools play half decent cricket. SIX!!! There's no age group cricket, poor coaching, no high performance etc etc. If kids expressed an urge to play cricket more schools would offer it. They'd play on the streets if they enjoyed it. Clearing that Milton pitch is a fine example. Parents and kids and a couple of companies could have done that years ago if there was real interest. They wait for someone else to do it.

What makes a kid interested in cricket?

His family played.

The national team win games and the players are people to be admired and emulated and these days for the money. If there's a career pathway that offers a good living for the very best you'll get kids putting in the hard yards for that 1% chance at success. Not great odds, but plenty have a go worldwide. Stupid really.

Also this NPL and now this T20 league, which is supposed to be club stuff is being played mid week. That's ZC assuming, rightly or wrongly, that nobody actually has a job 😂 .

They want to tick that box of more cricket and guys have to work around freeing up mid week time. I can't answer, but I would think some players are having to duck from work.

This impromptu cricket is way better than nothing, but surely plan it a year in advance. Have a set schedule, name the competition and make sure it happens on time. Make it an annual event that clubs gear up for, get some tradition going, get some proper rivalries going. They also created one extra academy team and promptly ordered the best players from other clubs to join it, weakening those sides and cricket is a funny old game because they didnt even win 😂

Club cricket is for weekends, surely? We need proper ling term advanced planning, not crisis management. It's a start though. Long may it continue.