zimcricketnews.com

This weekend’s Sunday Mail has a surprisingly robust interview with ZC interim chairman Peter Chingoka, although as ever some of Chingoka’s answers don’t really directly address the questions. The full article is well worth a read, but here are a few choice extracts:

What do you think are the reasons the team has been performing badly in matches since the walk-out of senior players?
A player like Heath Streak is world class. Any team would miss his services given the experience he had, and so we were affected by the unilateral withdrawal of labour by the senior players as it left us with a squad brimming with talent but woefully short on experience.

Have there been some behind-the-scenes negotiations with some players with the hope of them returning to the wicket soon? How far true is it that some senior players have approached you or some board members with the view to returning for the World Cup in the West Indies? If true, are you prepared to tell the nation who they are and how far the negotiations have gone?
We have always said that our doors are open, and so the onus is on any player who wants to make himself available for selection to do so. We continue to receive inquiries from former players, but you will appreciate that it is not in anyone’s interest to go public about inquiries. We would rather speak when they commit themselves on paper, as Gary Brent and Stuart Matsikenyeri have done. Meanwhile, discussions are under way with the likes of Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams, who are currently training with the national squad.

Other questions include the nature of the board’s squabble with Tatenda Taibu, whether any of the board have been involve in “underhand dealings”, whether Chingoka will be stepping down at the end if the Interim board’s tenure, and progress on revising ZC’s new constitution to take account of the SRC’s objections.
Sunday Mail - Test Cricket next year: Chingoka