Two men: one the CEO of a cricket team that holds all three domestic trophies, the other the chairman of an organisation that has seen the steady decline of cricket in his country. No surprises then, given that the cricket team in question is Zimbabwe, that it is the former who has lost his job.
The men are John Brent and Peter Chingoka but could just as easily be countless others.
Brent is the uncle of Mountaineers coach and former national player Gary who helped mastermind the Mountaineers’ ridiculously successful 2013-14 season which saw them win both the four-day Logan Cup competition and the 50-over competition. He told Manica Post: “I was not given any reason as to why the contracts were not renewed. This also applies to chief operating officer, Frank Kurebwa, and area manager Farai Chari’s contracts. We sincerely hope that all being done will be for the good of the franchise and the game of cricket.” That seems unlikely.
The reason for the termination of their contracts is ostensibly one of cost-cutting but ZC has a long history of alienating those who are successful and may pose a threat to the clique that runs the game in the country.
Chingoka, as the long-time chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, is arguably the head of that clique, many of whom are alleged to have links with Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZanuPF party. His time at the helm has resulted in ZC accumulating debts rumoured to be approaching US$20 million. Charitable observers would put this down to woeful incompetence. Others would describe it as far worse.
The latter argument is perhaps given some weight by the fact that Chingoka, along with ZC vice-chairman Wilson Manase and former managing director Ozias Bvute, all sit on the board of Metbank which just so happens to be the financial institution that ZC is so indebted to. This conflict of interests has already had an impact on decision made by ZC.
The board took out loans with Metbank at rates of around 20 per cent when the ICC was willing to offer loans at much lower rates. Furthermore, when the ICC did give ZC a loan with the intention that it be used to service part of its debt, it was placed in a non-interest-bearing account at Metbank, meaning that the bank could loan out the money to others but ZC received
Where does it all leave Gary Brent?
nothing in return.
All of this is complicated by the fact that Manase and Bvute stand to lose out twice if ZC decides to cut its losses and declare itself insolvent. Besides the financially insecure bank standing to lose a large chunk of capital and so obviously reflecting poorly on the board, the pair also stand to lose out a second time as they both handed over personal title deeds to act as guarantors for ZC’s loan.
It is all rather depressing and has resulted in players not being paid, leading them to strike, quit altogether or ply their trade overseas. A bright spot was thought to be on the horizon when the ICC initially offered ZC a loan to write off all of its debt to Metbank. It was thought that the board turned this down due to the strings attached, but some digging by highly-respected African cricket journalist Tristan Holme has found that the loan was in fact rejected by an ICC committee. They clearly felt that they had had their fingers burned once too often. Whilst it is always easy to blame the ICC, on this occasion they could not really have done much else. Short of them forcing a root-and-branch reform of the entire ZC administrative structure there is little they can do.
Unfortunately, what with the recent inward-looking restructuring at the ICC, the appetite for looking after the wider global game, and therefore Zimbabwean cricket, seems to be diminishing. It can be argued that globalisation of the game has always been just a token gesture - England’s refusal to play Zimbabwe for several years, ostensibly on security grounds but in reality because repeated series against Australia and India are far more profitable, is an example of that.
The decision now to make the FTP non-binding will isolate Zimbabwe further and has already resulted in Pakistan cancelling a series against them. It seems certain that their steady downward spiral will continue. It can only be hoped that the end comes quickly so that rebuilding, by genuine cricket fans, can begin.
All of which leaves the successful Mountaineers coach Gary Brent in an uncertain position. He could join the drain of coaching talent from Zimbabwe that began with Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower and has recently seen Heath Streak and Grant Flower depart for pastures new. Alternatively, he may continue to selflessly coach in Zimbabwe by remaining at the Mountaineers, if the franchise system manages to limp on.
His decision has not been made any easier by the rumoured identity of his new boss. Givemore Makoni, a former national team manager, franchise boss and now convenor of selectors, leads an incredibly short shortlist and is certainly ZC through and through. He perhaps hasn’t helped his cause in recent days by engaging in a very public, barely literate and misguided rant against franchise player Robertson Chinyengetere on Facebook. Predictably, it is unlikely to count against him.
Daniel Grummitt
He worked for CricketWorld.com for almost three years, leading their county and domestic cricket coverage and contributing to a book about the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, before joining the hugely ambitious World Cricket Badger early in 2014.
The first Test that he remembers watching was on Channel 4 - back before the ECB marginalised potential future fans by selling the TV rights to Sky Sports - when England beat Pakistan by an innings and nine runs at Lord’s.
Besides a passion for domestic cricket, he also has an unexplainable interest in all things Zimbabwe cricket!
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