Zimbabwe cricket chief Peter Chingoka received government backing in his job on Friday as the devastating rift between players and the game’s rulers threatened to lead to the loss of Test status.
Striking members of the national team said they will not tour the West Indies in May if the controversial Chingoka remains in power.
Reminded by Agence France-Presse that all the country’s senior players have often stated they will not play for Zimbabwe if Chingoka is at the helm, Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC) chairperson General Gibson Mashingaidze commented: ”The government will not be held for ransom. We will start afresh if we have to. They can decide to play or go to India or South America if they like.”
Unless the players can be persuaded to change their minds, however, the West Indies will be called upon to play against a Zimbabwe fourth or fifth string with no Test or one-day international experience when they meet for a scheduled series during May.
Only six of the 40-strong national squad have signed new contracts, said Mashingaidze.
Players’ spokesperson Clive Field said the current situation could have devastating consequences for the game in Zimbabwe.
”It would be economical suicide for them [the players] to be playing for a country that does not have Test status,” Field told the BBC.
”It is a concern to me that Chingoka continues. It seems bizarre that although he was head of an administration that they see fit to remove, they now make him the head of a new one.”
Friday’s decision, rubber-stamping a decision by the SRC and which also sees MD Osias Bvute keeping his job, means Chingoka stays in place during the next six months on an interim basis, heading up an intermediary board of directors.
After that, said Mashingaidze, an election will be held in July for a fresh board.
The decision means that vice-chairperson Judge Ahmed Ebrahim, together with several other directors who have served for many years, are arbitrarily removed.
It was Ebrahim, writing on behalf of other directors as well as provincial chairpersons and all the national players, who asked the SRC to appoint four named men to run cricket temporarily until the impasse had been resolved.
Those suggested included former cricket president David Ellman-Brown, Macsoon Ebrahim, Ethan Dube and Charles Robertson.
Macsoon and Robertson have also been replaced on the board.
The decision will be a setback for Ebrahim and his many colleagues who have vigorously called for the removal of Chingoka and Bvute, citing great financial irregularities.
The two were investigated, held in police cells and released after 48 hours on instruction by the attorney general.
They will almost certainly not accept the SRC findings without protest and are also certain to continue with their campaign.
None of the provincial chairpersons were available for comment and Ebrahim was out of the country. — Sapa-AFP