Zimbabwe Cricket are currently in dire straits after having received a suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The country's legendary all-rounder Grant Flower has stated that such a decision might have been passed to give his nation's board members a reality check.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Flower said, "I think over time, the ICC have just been worn down by all the corruption, fraud, and the problems with Zimbabwe cricket not being able to get its house in order. Maybe they thought a jolt to their system would make some people realise what was expected of them."
ICC recently suspended the country's apex cricket body due to constitutional violations. Zimbabwe Cricket's elected members were also suspended by the country's Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC).
"They would have reasoned Zimbabwe needed to understand that at some stage, you've got to put your house in order, and we can't keep propping you up like we have been doing over the years. I can understand the player's frustrations, but unfortunately with Zimbabwe cricket, it sounds like the ICC have just had enough", added Flower.
"....We can go back so many years to when things were very badly run. It's pretty obvious what was happening at the time and the people responsible who were involved. And I think the current crop of players and the interim board, who are really good people, are being punished because the ICC felt they needed to take a stand."
The country's cricket board has been chaos for quite sometime. In 2004, 14 members including Flower had left the system in 2004, when captain Heath Streak was dismissed for disagreements on racial quotas within the squad. Things got a little better after former Olympian and the country most famous sports star Kirsty Coventry became the Sports minister.
"My understanding is the SRC is a public body and not exactly government. I think there's quite a big difference there and I'm surprised the media hasn't picked up on that. The SRC now is slightly more transparent," Flower stated.
"Regarding government intervention, it's curious how the ICC have decided to interpret that. There are other countries where it's publicly stated that some of the times that certain things will be discussed and decided at government level. So I think there's quite a big contradiction there from the ICC," Flower added.
"Even when we were leaving, there were a good bunch of youngsters coming through that could get the country's cricket going. But that's not the case anymore, with even the domestic competitions unable to take place. For it to be stopped until October at the very least, the guys are probably going to go and play in the leagues, seek a future elsewhere to try and look after their families, So yeah, I certainly think this is far worse."
"The scapegoats are the players and some of the good administrators. I saw this thing on Twitter about Harare Sports club, it's a beautiful ground and at the moment it's just going to waste because no one is being paid and the staff have left," he said.
"It is a sad day, and maybe some of the players are going to move on. Most of the players are still quite young, like Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, who left their county to return to Zimbabwe. They could still ply their trade elsewhere; it'd be a pity it won't be for their country of birth."
(PTI Inputs)
