SPORTS Minister David Coltart has launched an astonishing attack on Zimbabwe Cricket after a shocking display by the cricket team during the just-ended tour of New Zealand.
In an amazing Twitter rant, Coltart accused Zimbabwe Cricket of failing to get its priorities right, but reserved most of his invective for the panel of selectors chaired by Givemore Makoni.
Zimbabwe’s performance on the tour had been “disgraceful”, Coltart added in a series of tweets after Zimbabwe’s 202-run defeat by the Black Cats in their third One Day International match on Thursday.
New Zealand swept the ODI series 3-0 after winning the first two test matches by 90 and 141 runs respectively.
Last month, Zimbabwe slumped to an innings and 301-run defeat in a one-off Test as the hosts made them pay for loose bowling and shoddy fielding.
“National pride is at stake, this disgraceful performance was a combination of poor selection and wrong priorities. I feel for [Brendan] Taylor who tried,” Coltart said.
“There is a need for a serious rethink in Zimbabwe Cricket. Ten support staff in New Zealand including two managers meant that specialist players were left in Zimbabwe.
“It’s top heavy. One of my broad political philosophies is a belief in small government and the same applies to administration of sports teams.”
Coltart, a huge cricket fan, questioned the non-selection of top order batsman Vusi Sibanda, who was overlooked because he had elected to play in Australia instead of signing for a local franchise.
As Zimbabwe were suffering punishing defeats in New Zealand, Sibanda was back from his Australian jaunt, leading Mid West Rhinos to impressive victories in the Coca-Cola Pro50 Championship.
“I really question the team selection,” Coltart went on. “Vusi's non-inclusion; and how could Shingi [Shingirai Masakadza] be left out after superb performances in the first two ODIs?
“Meanwhile, back at the ranch Vusi Sibanda and Gary Ballance on 140 and 115 not out speak with their bats. Imagine if they had been playing today!”
South Africa are the next team to tour New Zealand and the local media have been contemptuous of the departing Zimbabweans.
“Farewell dreadful Zimbabwe, now for a real challenge,” said a headline in the New Zealand Herald.
Columnist Adam Parore twisted the knife: “The less said about Zimbabwe the better, although I can't let their dreadful tour end without a few comments.
“They are the worst side to tour this country, below even the poor Bangladesh outfits of the past five years. A lot of what we saw was no better than club cricket.
“Thankfully, there is something special to look forward to with the South Africans arriving over the weekend. Their tour should provide plenty of terrific contests - the mainly drab Zimbabwe disaster can be quickly forgotten.”
Parore cited Zimbabwe’s “substandard fielding” as the genesis of their problems, adding: “This is the one area of the game where teams are in total control of their own standards and not affected by the quality of opposition.”
A Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman said: "The minister, like all cricket fans, is rightly concerned by our poor showing and is within his rights to call it as he sees it.
"We have a job of creating the right environment for our cricket team to be able to complete, and we are disappointed these efforts are not always reflected in performances.
"We don't take such setbacks as the disappointing defeat to New Zealand lightly, and we will take the advice and criticism of all cricket lovers onboard as we prepare the team for the next assignment."