If you were a cricket fan since the early 2000s, there is little chance that you’d have missed names like Andi Flower, Heat Streak, and Olanga. Those were the times when Zimbabwe was among the best cricket playing nations and had in its ranks some illustrious cricketers. From there, Zimbabwe’s cricket saw a rapid collapse owing to multiple factors, all of which were originated from one man. Yes, ‘Robert Mugabe’ it is…
Where did it all start?
Zimbabwe won its independence in the 1980s, and by virtue of being the most popular leader of the revolutionary movement, Mugabe became the country’s first Prime Minister. His political leaning was that of an African Nationalist within a Marxist cover. An avowed socialist, his initial days saw him working for improving the country’s education and healthcare. He also pushed for land reforms, as more than 80% of Zimbabwe’s agricultural land was owned by the white minority that constituted less than 1% of the population. His popularity among the masses encouraged him to consolidate power by completely eliminating opposition parties. In the period between 1983-87, Mugabe’s men unleashed a spree of killings, which is now known as ‘Gukurahundi Massacre’. This led to the death of more than 20,000 people who sympathized with the opposition ranks, and effectively succeeded in establishing Zimbabwe as a single party nation. Mugabe’s power was further cemented by bringing in critical changes to the constitution, which made the country an executive presidency state (it was a Parliamentary system earlier). The 90s only saw him grow in strength and stature and his influence spanned across every walk of people’s life.
Mugabe and Cricket:
Zimbabwe has had a traditionally strong cricketing culture. With Mugabe being a self-declared fan of cricket, Mugabe’s policies, directly and indirectly, intruded into the game. The crackdown on opposition parties and press freedom led to political dissent spilling over to the cricket ground as it gave protesters an avenue to gain international attention. The push for the vigorous seizure of white-owned farming land heightened racial tensions and the family-owned lands of cricketing stars like Heath Streak was also snatched without due compensation. The rapid and erratic seizures led to a drastic decline in food productivity and eventually caused famines. With agrarian exports also suffering, the economy was in total shambles.
In 2003, when Zimbabwe co-hosted the cricket world cup along with South Africa and Kenya, Andy Flower and Henry Olanga (Olanga was the first black Zimbabwean Cricketer) wore black armbands to highlight the ‘death of democracy’ in Zimbabwe, which evoked a strong political crackdown against the duo. While Andy Flower vacated the country soon after, Olanga had to go underground as he faced death threats from Mugabe’s henchmen.
Andy Flower and Olanga during the Black Armband Protest: World Cup 2003
Subsequently, he too managed to sneak out to the USA and he continues to live there today. England and New Zealand also boycotted their scheduled matches that were to be played in Harare as a sign of protest, a decision that proved costly for both, as they lost out on progressing in the tournament by close margins. Nonetheless, Mugabe remained unperturbed and subsequently had the entire board of ‘Cricket Zimbabwe’ handpicked from within his second fiddles. A quota system for black cricketers was introduced in the national side, which stripped many leading players of their position in the side. Heath Streak, who was then captaining the side, quit his position in dissent and subsequently, the entire team was replaced with new players. This resulted in the team’s international performance taking a nosedive in the international arena. Further, the stature erosion also created an economic strain in the board’s coffers, which resulted in the salaries and payouts to the players becoming irregular. At one point, the Zimbabwean cricket board wasn’t even able to settle out hotel bills of the players. These conditions forced some players to quit the national side, as making a living out of it became a pipe dream. Between 2006-2011, Zimbabwe ceased to be a test playing nation as ICC flagged it for under-performance. Zimbabwe’s cricket thus proved to be a classical example on how a team that is counted among the best in the world could hit rock bottom if there is undue political interference.
The Future:
Optimists would say, “if things hit rock bottom, it could only get better from there”. On that note, although the team failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, there has been a slow but steady recovery of the sport over the past few years in the country. Some of the controversial policies have now been reversed. With Mugabe having been ousted by a military coup in late 2018 after an iron-fisted 38-year rule, the country and its institutions are in a transition phase, and the same is also true for its cricket.
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