‘We are here to play cricket. We are not involved in politics.†Guess who said that? A South African cricketer circa 1970? A rebel English or Australian player during the 1980s? Or someone of more recent vintage?
If you picked the third answer, you would be correct.
The quotes are from Zimbabwe Cricket Union chairman Peter Chingoka when the country’s team arrived in London last week for a couple of Tests against England and a triangular tournament, involving South Africa.
The sentiments don’t half sound familiar, particularly if you had anything to do with cricket during apartheid and South Africa’s two decades of isolation from international competition. At the same time, though, apartheid-era South Africa and present-day Zimbabwe don’t bear comparison.
No sporting boycott has been imposed on Zimbabwe and, as Chingoka was keen to point out, strong economic links still exist between Zimbabwe and Great Britain. There have been threats of boycotts against Zimbabwe’s tour, but these seem to have come almost entirely from expatriate (and dispossessed) Zimbabweans.
It’s a curious situation, made no simpler by the British government’s lack of a consistent policy towards Zimbabwe. If it was morally wrong to play a World Cup match in Harare, then how can it be okay for England to host a tour by a Zimbabwean team weeks later?
One answer might be that safety and security considerations do not apply to the tour of England. This might change if the mysterious ‘Sons and Daughters of Zimbabwe†reappear, but it seems that no one expects a serious threat.
It may be stating the obvious, but the Zimbabwean issue is almost entirely political, which is why there are no straightforward answers to it. Chingoka has used the ‘we’re only cricketers†defence, but that wears thin.
Opposite to Chingoka, who, it is alleged, has close ties with the Zanu-PF government, are people like Alistair Campbell, the former Zimbabwean captain who was initially omitted from the World Cup but called up in mid-tournament.
A little ungraciously, perhaps, Campbell described Heath Streak’s squad in England as a bunch of ‘yes menâ€, unlikely to offer criticism of the Mugabe regime. This does not quite amount to a damning indictment of a mostly young team. As a rule, sportsmen tend to keep to the Chingoka ‘we’re just cricketers†line and those who do offer criticism, à la Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, are the exception.
The father of the captain, Denis Streak, was detained last year, which might explain why his son has kept his political opinions to himself. At the same time, you cannot blame people for holding their tongues when speaking out might threaten their livelihoods. What is apparent, however, is that the relationship between the younger Streak and Andy Flower, who grew up together in Zimbabwe, broke down during the World Cup. How Streak gets on with Grant Flower these days is not clear.
The general view is that Zimbabwean cricket is struggling. It needed the income from the World Cup to keep going. Those who attacked the organisers and the International Cricket Council for staging matches in Zimbabwe steered away from suggestions as to what else might be done to ensure the game’s survival in that country.
In a political sense, the higher echelons of Zimbabwe’s administration are believed to be concerned with toeing the government line. Beneath the top level, however, there is sympathy for the opposition, and players are caught between opposing views.
These circumstances ensure that only players who have finished or are nearing the end of their careers are likely to express their opinions publicly. Younger players are unlikely to offer independent thinking outside the game.
Developments outside the game, however, will undoubtedly spin off into Zimbabwean cricket. A resolution of the problems that affect the country cannot come too soon for the struggling game, although it is not clear exactly what direction cricket will take in a post-Mugabe society. What is obvious, though, is that the state of the game is not so healthy that it can afford to do without the Olongas and the Andy Flowers.
The sooner they are back in their home country, playing a meaningful role, the better.