SO for the second time in seven years, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has inflicted a dent on the leadership reputation of none other than their own blue-eyed boy, Hamilton Masakadza.
ENOCK MUCHINJO
Back in May 2016, the history-making Zimbabwe batsman was fired as the country’s captain, alongside coach Dav Whatmore, after a dismal performance at the T20 World Cup a few months earlier.
This time around, post-playing days and in the newly-created position of the board’s director of cricket, Masakadza has been offered and took the face-saver of resigning instead of being fired – following the not-so-flattering report of an independent committee’s probe into Zimbabwe’s recent monumental failures.
You will find this very interesting that on both occasions, in 2016 and now, the two decisions have been taken with the current board chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani at the helm of ZC.
What a love-hate relationship this has been and, if you want, you can even go back 17 and 13 years ago when Masakadza was excluded from Zimbabwe’s 2007 and 2011 World Cup squads for under-performing in the build-up to the tournaments when in fact nobody else was particularly special among the available crop of players.
This has been pretty much Masakadza’s life in ZC because away from the boardroom, for some strange reason the man does not appear to be everybody’s cup of tea among the fan-base of the game in this country.
It is a sad turn of events for a player who made the most splendid arrival imaginable in international cricket, 23 years ago, when he became the youngest man in the world to score a century on his debut in the history of Test cricket.
For me, I’ll repeat what I have already shared in private conversations over Masakadza’s so-called resignation: that I am not holding my breath because the problems of Zimbabwean cricket did not start with Hamilton Masakadza and neither will they end with his departure from this supposedly powerful role.
It is only prudent, therefore, for those who appointed Masakadza to act in the public interest, for the sake of accountability as well as checks and balances.
By that I mean the public has the right to know what Makakadza’s job entailed, and what exactly his say in ZC was since his appointment back in October 2019. Just so we know who has been doing what in those big offices at Harare Sports Club, before people can start to celebrate something that could turn out to be merely cosmetic.
Without that kind of transparency in the affairs of ZC, the danger is that those who remain in their positions after Masakadza is gone will continue to enjoy the breathing space to duck and dive in order to avoid the crossfire.
Hamilton Masakadza occupied what in different circumstances, or in some countries, would be a very influential position. Directors of cricket, elsewhere, is where the bucks stop. He is the guy in charge – to put it in simple terms.
While we wait to hear from ZC about Masakadza’s role, for him to go alone – citing failure to qualify for World Cups – appears to me for now like accepting to bite the bullet on behalf of others.
Unless of course more resignations follow soon.
