Herald
By Robson Sharuko
2 October 2010
Harare — JUST when world cricket, reeling from the damage inflicted by allegations of match-fixing scandals, needed a breath of fresh air to show there was still integrity in the gentleman’s game, it found that beautiful ray of light from a very unlikely source.
The fallout from Pakistan’s tour to England, the wounds inflicted by the allegations of match-fixing and the counter claims by Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt that the hosts might also have influenced the outcome of the third ODI, had left world cricket looking for a feel-good story.
England coach Andy Flower said the reputation of cricket was now in tatters, Butt flew back to England and retracted his statement that they might have thrown away the third ODI and world cricket cried out loudly for a tale to charm its broken heart.
When it came, last week, it was from a very unlikely source.
Zimbabwe Cricket has had its fair share of trials and tribulations in the past few years it’s very likely that noone would certainly have placed any bets on it providing that refreshing tale, which would charm world cricket, at a time when the game was searching its soul.
But that’s what precisely happened as the shrewd leadership at the ZC, led by a managing director who is possibly evolving into the finest sporting administrator in this country today, surprised the world with a gesture that gave cricket the integrity it might have lost during the Pakistan/England attrition.
On face value it was probably just another decision, in the backwaters of the Intercontinental Cup, which didn’t matter that much.
But, given the trying times for the game, it was a magical decision that showed there were still men of honour in a game that has been plagued by a syndrome of greed.
When Ozias Bvute announced last week that ZC were offering Scotland the full 20 points for the Intercontinental Cup game that was supposed to have been played in this country, but was put on ice, after the Scots decided not to travel to Harare on the advice of the British Government.
Ireland toured Zimbabwe and, after their drawn match against Zimbabwe A, the Scots were set to be eliminated from the competition until Bvute provided a ray of hope for them by offering them all the 20 points on offer for the game that was never played.
“The Associate Members countries use this and other competitions to benchmark and track their progress, which progress is important to them,” said Bvute in his offer.
“To this end we feel that the Intercontinental Cup is a significant competition in Scotland’s development and therefore important that it gets the full benefits associated with playing in it.
“While Scotland’s decision not to tour has been attributed to political considerations, we as Zimbabwe Cricket are not qualified to comment on matters political of any country, nor would we want to base the future of the game of cricket on political directives.
“As such Zimbabwe has no dispute with either Cricket Scotland or the ICC. Instead, we seek only a solution that will ultimately allow for fair participation by all.
“Zimbabwe has no dispute with either Cricket Scotland or the ICC.
“Instead, we seek only a solution that will ultimately allow for fair participation by all, as such, ZC has decided to forfeit the match in favour of Scotland.”
With just one magical decision, the ZC leadership showed the world that, contrary to the dosages of propaganda that it had been fed by biased media outlets, they were certainly not the heartless characters who cared for noone and listened to anyone.
They showed that, in a world where some would even possibly throw away the integrity of the game for the sake of money, they still cared for the game and, rather than see an enemy in a Scotland team that had given them a raw deal, found an ally that needed help in its journey to turn into a competitive nation.
They showed that they were prepared to go the extra mile, just to embrace their cricket partners, and even losing a place in the Intercontinental Cup final was worth the sacrifice.
They understood that beyond the foolish decision by the British authorities to prevent Scotland from travelling to Zimbabwe, was a group of cricket loving men and women — working under the Cricket Scotland umbrella — who cared for the game, probably liked Zimbabwe Cricket and, given a chance, would probably have acted differently. Zimbabwe had little to gain from the Intercontinental Cup save for exposing a number of its emerging players to the challenges in the lower reaches of world cricket.
Scotland had everything to gain from the Intercontinental Cup because, given their level of development, this is their class and, in this competition, they can measure their progress.
ZC’s decision, to forfeit the points, was celebrated around the world as a triumph for the game of cricket that would help build bridges in a sport that is reeling from major challenges.
The Times of India described it as an offer of goodwill.
The Scotsman described it as a surprise decision.
“Scotland have been handed a surprise Intercontinental Cup reprieve, after Zimbabwe offered to forfeit the points from their controversial fixture,” wrote William Duck, in The Scotsman.
“The Scots faced elimination from the tournament after refusing to travel to Harare on UK government advice, which says that sporting tours by British teams send a positive signal when not enough progress has been made in Zimbabwe on political reform and re-establishing the rule of law.”
And, when the ICC confirmed that Scotland had been awarded the full 20 points from that match, thanks to Zimbabwe’s offer, there was joy in the corridors of Cricket Scotland.
“This is certainly an unexpected development and we have always said that the most important thing is for our players to get the chance to play for the Intercontinental Cup,” said Cricket Scotland chief executive Roddy Smith.
“It is a satisfactory outcome to what has been a very difficult situation for ourselves, Zimbabwe and the ICC.
“We would rather have had the opportunity to play against Zimbabwe and we do not celebrate the fact that they have forfeited the match.
“However, we have said all along that we wanted our players to get the opportunity to compete for the Intercontinental Cup and now they will get that chance. I am delighted for the guys.
“If you take Zimbabwe’s results out of the equation we would have been in the top two in any case. We have never had any issue with Zimbabwe Cricket and we would have no hesitation in travelling there once the UK government’s stance has changed.”
Dave Richardson, chairman of the ICC’s event technical committee, said he was hopeful this would not happen again.
“We did everything possible to facilitate an agreement between the two countries and would have been happy for the game to take place anywhere in the world,” he told the Scotsman.
“But the two sides could not agree and it is important for the integrity of the competition that these circumstances are not be allowed to happen again.”
The Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, David Coltart, said cricket had triumphed over politics following the Zimbabwe Cricket’s decision to forfeit the points to Scotland.
Coltart, who traces his family tree to Scotland, appears to be enjoying warm relations with the ZC leadership after a rocky start as the two sides continue to reach out to each other.
The minister has been on a personal crusade to try and persuade Australia, New Zealand and England to end their tour boycott of Zimbabwe and appears to be winning his battle with the Aussies and the Kiwis opening the way for such movement.
New Zealand A arrived in Harare yesterday for three four-day games spread across the whole of this month at Harare Sports Club.
The Kiwis are being captain by all-rounder James Franklin.
No wonder why Coltart appears a happy man.
“Delighted by Zimbabwe Cricket decision to allow Scotland Cricket to play in the Intercontinental Final instead of them,” he wrote on his Tweeter Page.
“Cricket 1, Politics 0.”
You couldn’t have said it better Honourable Minister. So Scotland will now take their place in the Intercontinental Cup final against Afghanistan in Dubai in November.
But it will be hard, even during that game, to forget the big part played by the brave boys of Zimbabwe Cricket to give the game a chance.