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Monday 7th July, 2008 15 How Mandela comments scuppered Zimbabwe’s ICC bluff… nitially, Yahaluweni, the plan There has been so much hype about today had been to downplay politi- so-called mystery spinner Ajantha Ical issues and take a closer view of Mendis that important facts are being team leadership. overlooked. Sure he has wickets and a And the pragmatist that he is, record, but it needs a lot more than Mahela Jayawardene should not need Time for more his singular efforts in this tourna- to explain to anyone who knows the ment to suggest he is a match-winner. game, just how difficult captaincy is. These will not be popular views or Being your country’s skipper is far comments. But there are reasons. So tougher than most would care to far, he has bowled in a series of fifty- admit. overs games with the white ball and There is, however, a need to make the United Arab Emirates struggled a closer, detailed examination of the transparency against Bangladesh, which doesn’t Zimbabwe question and say much. the International As it is, the pressure had been on The Chesterfield Files Cricket Council meet- the opposition batsmen when he ing that ended Friday. began his bowling spells, with falling Also, it seems how a run rate a problem and loss of wick- largely self-centred ets meant an added struggle. Asian media missed Until he bowls in a full Test series the crucial turning and with the red ball and in condi- point of events in tions where he needs to use flight as Dubai. well as turn, and against batsmen pre- In this there are two pared to use their feet, opinions will South Africans who remain sceptical. Bruce Yardley played significant roles called it correctly the other night by in plans that scuppered suggesting batsmen tackle him as a Peter Chingoka’s bluff medium-pace bowler. Obviously, the and bluster: one was in coaches weren’t listening. Dubai and the other off- As for Mahela Jayawardene, the by Trevor stage in London. past few months have had their First in the frame is moments when he might have won- Chesterfield the erudite tough-mind- dered if it has all been worth it. And ed advocate and Cricket by the time you read this, whether Sri South Africa president Norman Lanka managed to retain the Asia Arendse and how he cornered what Cup, or concede it to India will be has been the continuing deceit of known. Zimbabwe Cricket. He was seconding After all, did not Arjuna as it were, the man whose condemna- Ranatunga, on June 17, laud India as tion of Robert Mugabe and the ZANU- possible trophy winners? Sure, he was PF regime’s brutality, Nelson making an opinion given in India to Mandela, was surprisingly not known India media hungry as always for among Asian ICC delegates. India type quotes. But the way they It was Madiba’s explosive nine were juxtaposed came across as a bit words spoken in London two weeks of a slap in the face for Jayawardene earlier at a function to celebrate his and his squad. ninetieth birthday, “the tragic failure Had Ranatunga been asked about of leadership in our neighbouring Sri Lanka’s hopes, the comments Zimbabwe” and highlighted in these would have been made with thoughts files last week which shook the stoic with a Sri Lanka angle. Fudging sto- Chingoka and surprised others ries in such a way creates the wrong around the table. Close confidants in impression. South Africa, Australia and England, There have been times though, several who were in Dubai for since the Caribbean tour, where the Friday’s media conference, said it Tests were shared 1-1 and the slogs forced a major Asian rethink. lost 2-0, when there is this impression Also, Bishop Desmond Tutu, so many critics around the island unfairly vilified in local media over wanted Sri Lanka to fail in Pakistan. his human rights comments, has long They all wanted to point fingers at been an advocate of Zimbabwe isola- Jayawardene and the side and give a tion as a way of ridding the continent smug ‘we told you so’ nod, nudge and of such as Mugabe. There is no gen- wink. uine African sahodarthwaya between That smacks of a small-minded these two men. approach that needs to be tackled now When confronted over the as the squad prepares for the Indian Mandela comment, Mugabe’s tour and a competitive home Test spokesperson George Charramba, did- series. Sri Lankans, it is found, love to n’t know how to respond. This is an rub it in when the team is doing well, African talking to an African and has but when they start losing, criticism nothing to do with so-called colonisa- is not only unbalanced but the views tion. Those days have long passed, but become laughable. it is still a chip on the Zimbabwe Constructive analysis of a team’s shoulder but not that of Zambia. failure to perform in difficult condi- Arendse also asked pointed ques- tions is appreciated far more than lin- tions of Zimbabwe’s delegation and ing up players and using their backs which they didn’t expect and refused as dart boards to justify a litany of to answer. The CSA president wanted what are negative comments. As most to know how many of ZC members of these, anyway, are aimed at had ties to Mugabe’s Zanu PF party. Jayawardene or for some arcane rea- They also failed to reply to Arendse son Ashantha de Mel, explains how over how many cricketers had been bereft of ideas some critics are. killed or arrested during the recent Whether Sri Lanka beat India in presidential run-off. the final at the Karachi National Not only are Zimbabwe fortunate Stadium last night is not the point. to survive with their full ICC mem- Sri Lanka’s skipper Mahela Jayawardene helped his team reach the Asia Cup final. What is the point, and matters most, bership intact, they now face a strict excessive and playing conditions are tion in Pakistan for the Champions ing rash decisions. is that Sri Lanka reached the final examination of how they have run next to non-existent in country (out- Trophy, it requires more than a ten But to turn the match forfeited before the final super four game the game for which they get close to station) areas, whereas a decade ago, day visit to know whether what you result into a draw to save Pakistan against India on Thursday. This came US$10.5-million. One of the burning they were of a high standard. are looking at is genuine or a cover- face in the matter creates not only a against the background of so many issues has for years what has hap- Cricket Zimbabwe will organise a up. dangerous precedent. Why don’t offi- who wanted the side to fail. At times pened to such a vast sum spent in a clean up of facilities to show off the On my last visit in November 2003, cials in Maitland Place ask for the drift of comments wasn’t too hard nation where the economic meltdown flimsy façade of the game while hid- Bulawayo was still a bustling small Muttiah Muralitharan’s run out at to miss. has left an inflation rate close to a ing the error riddled scorebooks of city, but far less prosperous than in Christchurch two and a half years In columns and conversations, it million. the last two Logan Cup tournaments say 1983, 1987 and 1998. In 2003 there ago to be reversed? Even for that mat- made you wonder whose side they Heading the ICC team is West and that so-called first-class statistics had grown an endemic culture of fear ter that of Grant Eliot at The Oval a were on: Pakistan or India; it certain- Indies chairman Julian Hunte, a are in a mess. Why, they can’t even get as the so-called veterans roamed the couple of weeks ago. ly wasn’t Sri Lanka’s. shrewd politician, and Arjuna decent wicket keeping gloves and streets. Too much political correctness is Well, tough, luck to those who Ranatunga along with a third member some equipment imported by Amid all this comes the ICC deci- befuddling the game, and as with the hoped this would be the scenario and yet to be named. It will be interesting Zimbabwe players who had been in sion to overturn the result of The state of affairs over Zimbabwe’s cur- the writing of more epitaphs of to see who is going to be the A N England and to help their clubs, was Oval Test involving Pakistan and rent first-class statistics in a mess. Jayawardene’s career and that of oth- Other in this party; it could be a confiscated by government officials. England and had led to Michael Holding did what he felt is right; oth- ers. Sorry you are so disappointed. South African or another from Asia. While Hunte and Ranatunga are Holding resigning from the cricket ers on that committee should as well Jayawardene’s team is made of a lot They are to have a good look at the independent minded enough to make committee. Sure, Darrel Hair overre- in protest. tougher character and this has been Zimbabwe question and examine the their own conclusions, they also need acted, and should have gone to find It is not a habit to gaze into a crys- displayed in Pakistan.

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