Campbell in passionate appeal to sponsors

There are no youth, they have all left. I wonder who will get the blame for eevrything now that all the white players and admins have been driven out?

The big difference is that AC gets things done whilst Chingoka and co would just sprout hot air.

zimfan1 wrote:The big difference is that AC gets things done whilst Chingoka and co would just sprout hot air.

For me it comes down to results. Last time AC was in an influential position the following things happened:

1. We returned to Test cricket

2. We had good sponsors

3. We had a televised and well run domestic T20 competition

4. The right teams were being selected

I think it's fair to say he had a significant hand in achieving all of those things. And items 2-4 stopped happening once AC was out of the fold.

So in my opinion he's got a good track record and ZC is infinitely better off to have him in the managing director position. Most importantly - as a former player and captain he knows cricket.

My thoughts about a few other things...

1. He says he's talking to guys like Gary Brent and Graeme Cremer... this is great news. Please let's move Heaven and earth to get Cremer back... and Brent back in a coaching capacity would be a good thing too.

2. The debt situation: would be good if there was some indication that there's a plan to re-pay this. Because for the next two things to happen the debt needs to be under control...

3. HSC floodlights... this has gone on long enough, surely the hard part is done (getting the towers in). You'd think installing the lights would take less than 4 years. Day/night cricket at HSC would be epic. If they got a move on they could pip Australia to the first day/night Test match. There's some free marketing for you AC :)

4. I know the Victoria Falls stadium idea divides people, but I'm firmly in favour of it with one caveat. Tristan Holme says "A Test ground to rival Newlands for natural beauty" - the positioning of the stadium is vital. Wherever the stadium goes (and there's not much room close to the falls with the prime real estate taken up by national parks, hotels and railway lines) it needs to be picturesque. They need to somehow leverage the natural beauty. Assuming they can do that, the downsides are:

a. Cost of building a new stadium. Supposedly Hambantota in Sri Lanka only cost $8m USD though - sure it's expensive but it's not insurmountable. And the capacity would only need to be 7.5k max; nothing wrong with a lot of grassy areas.

b. It will sit idle for most of the year

The upsides:

a. There is no doubt it will bring in tourism. There are still misconceptions about Zim as a tourist destination (unfairly, I think) so a cricket game in Harare or Bulawayo is going to be a tough sell to a western tourist. Victoria Falls is a destination people can get on board with though; international cricket will just give people another reason to go there. With the renovations to Vic Falls Airport I think the Zim govt have recognised that the region should be the gateway into Zimbabwe rather than just the final leg of a trip to South Africa.

In any other country this project would be a shoe-in for govt funding, but seeing Zim govt has no funds... well, maybe we'll have to resign ourselves to the fact that it will be known as the "Guangzhou-Huawei Victoria Falls Stadium" ;)

b. Could be a neutral venue for nomads like Pakistan.

c. Could be multi-purpose. Soccer and rugby in Vic Falls wouldn't be a tough sell?

d. New, iconic stadium = there's going to be initial public interest. What better way to leverage that than by inviting S.Africa for a Test match to inaugurate the venue? Imagine if it became a yearly fixture for the two African Test teams to play a "season opener" at Victoria Falls. Traditions are a great way to engage the public because they can plan around it; like the Boxing Day Test.

There's a lot of dreaming going on in this post, but a Vic Falls stadium just has so much potential. It would be great to see it become a reality one day and even though we've got a long way to go, AC might be the visionary who has what it takes to get it to happen.

The stadium lights are a bit of a problem because the top sections have been assembled upside down. I am really serious about this. I stare at them every time that I am there in complete bemusement and just know that we are in the hands of complete moronic imbeciles. I cannot wait for the grand switching on when they discover that the vast banks of lights focus at a point a couple of hundred feet in the air.

Lol Googs, upside down lights.

Must be frustrating in Zimbabwe with these little f*ckups everywhere.

The thing is guys,

The junior lifeblood has been cutoff.

We are doomed and literally being propped up by the efforts of BRMT, Hammy, Raza , Williams and a much lesser extent Elty and Chatara.

The nucleus has been the same for deadset ten years. The reason why its been so long is its because they were juniors when thrust into the national team.

But we are living off the hype of the class of 2004 in the u/19s WC.

The tap is off.

If the current guys decide to stay that will bring them to the next world cup at best.

The rest are making up numbers. People like Jongwe are half decent but lets be honest, 11 jongwes are just a stock standard associate team.

Can be fixed. But in the words of one forum member "They'll need to start yesterday".