Source: Cricinfo
Zimbabwe's former Sports Minister David Coltart talks to ESPNcricinfo's Firdose Moonda about the financial problems facing Zimbabwean cricket and just how they can look to overcome them.
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David Coltart: 'We need to have realistic expectations'
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$25 million aye I'm sure ZC will use the money wisely hahahah
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Any ideas who the next Minister will be?
The Senator touches on a few pertinent issues but misses the point. He talks of players having to make a stand against a corrupt administration, but the issue is that the admin needs to be completely replaced and at least some of the money can be recovered. There's a certain beautiful wine farm in the Cape that must be worth a fair bit. Nothing whatsoever will work until there are proper people at the helm. If ALL the players stand together right now they have the power to enforce change. It won't happen because a few will always break and run and make deals and accept empty promises. We almost deserve our inevitable fate.
People keep talking about some progress at grass roots level in that the game has spread. I don't agree, I think there are way less junior players now than there were 20 years ago. The "problem" (why was it a problem?) was that the players were predominantly white. Clearly this was unacceptable to the majority and a working system was dismantled to make way for something that hasn't worked and NEVER will. The hard cold truth of it is that most black kids don't want to play cricket. Go to the few "white" schools and take a look, ( by "white" I mean a school with more than 20 white kids in it, because that is the perception.), at Lomagundi, Peter House, St. John's, Falcon, Ruzawi, Springvale, Lilfordia, Hellenic and St George's where there are half decent facilities the majority of the black kids don't even play cricket. They voluntarily choose to play another sport. Why is this? Why is it that at every school cricket match I have been to in the last 45 years there are virtually never any black parents supporting their kids? They turn out to watch basketball, football, athletics, net ball and rugby (not so much) though. I'd like to see these schools now being referred to as "predominantly black schools" and take the white stigma out of it. They are all "predominantly black".
Don't be fooled by the number (dwindling) of black supporters at national games and on the internet, they are miniscule percentage of the population. They have become a minority, much like us, and they don't know how to deal with it. It's almost laughable. Maybe we should join hands?? The people were victorious in dismantling an elitist sport in the ugliest of ways, but with the benefit of hindsight, what a hollow victory.
The Senator touches on a few pertinent issues but misses the point. He talks of players having to make a stand against a corrupt administration, but the issue is that the admin needs to be completely replaced and at least some of the money can be recovered. There's a certain beautiful wine farm in the Cape that must be worth a fair bit. Nothing whatsoever will work until there are proper people at the helm. If ALL the players stand together right now they have the power to enforce change. It won't happen because a few will always break and run and make deals and accept empty promises. We almost deserve our inevitable fate.
People keep talking about some progress at grass roots level in that the game has spread. I don't agree, I think there are way less junior players now than there were 20 years ago. The "problem" (why was it a problem?) was that the players were predominantly white. Clearly this was unacceptable to the majority and a working system was dismantled to make way for something that hasn't worked and NEVER will. The hard cold truth of it is that most black kids don't want to play cricket. Go to the few "white" schools and take a look, ( by "white" I mean a school with more than 20 white kids in it, because that is the perception.), at Lomagundi, Peter House, St. John's, Falcon, Ruzawi, Springvale, Lilfordia, Hellenic and St George's where there are half decent facilities the majority of the black kids don't even play cricket. They voluntarily choose to play another sport. Why is this? Why is it that at every school cricket match I have been to in the last 45 years there are virtually never any black parents supporting their kids? They turn out to watch basketball, football, athletics, net ball and rugby (not so much) though. I'd like to see these schools now being referred to as "predominantly black schools" and take the white stigma out of it. They are all "predominantly black".
Don't be fooled by the number (dwindling) of black supporters at national games and on the internet, they are miniscule percentage of the population. They have become a minority, much like us, and they don't know how to deal with it. It's almost laughable. Maybe we should join hands?? The people were victorious in dismantling an elitist sport in the ugliest of ways, but with the benefit of hindsight, what a hollow victory.
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This realistic expectations stuff is bullshit just more excuses for mismanagement
tell me is it unrealistic to expect the board to use the funds available to pay the players and make the game stronger ??
is it unrealistic to expect the best players to be selected to represent the country ??
If you look at all the players who Zimbabwe could theoretically call upon to represent the country Zimbabwe would be lights ahead of BD and Ireland and more than just competing with NZ and the Windies ( I think they could be ranked 6th in all formats ). So is it unrealistic for us to expect the team should be more competitive ???
We're not asking for miracles we're just asking for realistic expectations to be met ......
tell me is it unrealistic to expect the board to use the funds available to pay the players and make the game stronger ??
is it unrealistic to expect the best players to be selected to represent the country ??
If you look at all the players who Zimbabwe could theoretically call upon to represent the country Zimbabwe would be lights ahead of BD and Ireland and more than just competing with NZ and the Windies ( I think they could be ranked 6th in all formats ). So is it unrealistic for us to expect the team should be more competitive ???
We're not asking for miracles we're just asking for realistic expectations to be met ......
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next sports Minister could be Themba Mliswa. Once involved with cricket at some point also was into rugby. Now he is a hard nut.
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tawac wrote:next sports Minister could be Themba Mliswa. Once involved with cricket at some point also was into rugby. Now he is a hard nut.
Well, he's apparently in parliament now as a ZanuPF MP. Don't give them ideas.
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