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Elton Chigumbura

THE sensational win by the Zimbabwe Cricket team over Australia in a One-Day International match in the ongoing triangular series in Harare on Sunday should spur the team to achieve even better results against formidable opponents and restore the country’s standing in international cricket.
The stunning three-wicket win at Harare Sports Club should inject a lease life into Zimbabwean cricket and shows the possibilities that exist within the team despite the country’s cricket history of spinning from crisis to crisis.

There have been player strikes over unpaid salaries, accusations of corruption within the Zimbabwe Cricket board and coaches have been changing at a rapid pace but the headline-grabbing performance at the weekend put paid to all those negatives.

Coming as it did following a narrow loss to the Proteas in which the team put in a sterling bowling display but was let down by its batting, the Zimbabwe side is finally showing its potential and should be taken seriously. The loss to South Africa showed that the gulf in class between the two sides was narrowing and Zimbabwe’s consistency finally paid off against the mighty Australians — ranked the number one ODI side in the world before they were dislodged by India in the wake of the humiliating defeat to Zimbabwe.

The famous victory grabbed headlines around the world with the Australian media unforgiving in their pillorying of their national side just months before the country hosts the World Cup. The magnitude of Zimbabwe’s feat is underlined by the fact that the country last scored a victory against Australia 31 years ago with the bulk of the players who did duty on Sunday not yet born. The memorable win sent shockwaves around the world and it didn’t matter that it has been a staggering 11,406 days since that famous victory for Zimbabwe at the 1983 World Cup in Trent Bridge, the hosts were good value for their win with captain Elton Chigumbura and spinner Prosper Utseya shining in a 55-run partnership that steered Zimbabwe to victory.

In the run up to the Australia game, Zimbabwe had been beaten, bruised and pushed aside by the South Africans and Aussies in the series and the expectation was that they would once again collapse and contrive to suffer yet another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory but that was not to be.

On a beautiful sun-drenched day in a packed Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe’s cricketers came to the party and finally remembered how to win and in the process cemented their names in cricket folklore. Theirs was a victory notched against immense adversity considering the sorry state of the game and the reputation of the opposition they faced.

The current Zimbabwean side has very few big names and is made up of a sprinkling of veterans such as Brendan Taylor, Chigumbura, Sean Williams, Utseya and Hamilton Masakadza interspersed with eager rookies in the mould of John Nyumbu, Tino Mawoyo and Sikandar Raza. We salute their steely determination to triumph and also pay tribute to their coach Steve Mangongo who has been coming in for a lot of stick from critics uncomfortable with his management style. In a way, the victory vindicated ZC’s decision to stand by their man and let him lead the revolution underway in the gentlemen’s game.

The game of cricket has been undergoing a metamorphosis since the days of the Flower brothers Andy and Grant and the likes of Heath Streak, Andy Blignaut, Eddo Brandes and Neil Johnson. More black players have come in since Henry Olonga, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Tatenda Taibu and Mluleki Nkala led the way. The deracialisation of the sport has had its critics but ZC has remained resolute in its quest to transform the elite sport so that the Zimbabwe cricket team becomes truly representative and reflects the demographic composition of Zimbabwe.

It is with a sense of pride that we can today say without fear or favour that the current side is truly Zimbabwean with black and white players fighting for places. That is how it is supposed to be. Going forward, ZC should continue supporting the team and ensure that there are no sideshows to derail the players.