Years back in 2010,
Prosper Utseya resigned as captain of
Zimbabwe, handing over a formal resignation letter following a meeting with the
managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket. Elton Chigumbura replaced him … today,
the captain was Sikandar Raza Butt, born in Sialkot, Pakistan. Always economical but rarely incisive, Utseya
came of age with the ball during the tour to West Indies in May 2006, where his
flight and spin belied his lack of experience and years. Utseya captained the side in the darkest days
of Zimbabwe cricket, but despite some positive results in recent times could not cope up with the pressure and
eventually faded.
Today in T20 Zimbabwe
145 for 7 (Chibhabha 67) beat India 135 for 9 (Uthappa 42, Cremer 3-18) by 10
runs.
India had a bad
start losing Ajinkya Rahane, run out for a duck. There was a good partnership between Murali
Vijay and Uthappa, the latter contributing more – wickets fell – there was
another minor partnership between Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson, the debutant….but
! when Uthappa belted around, India galloped
to 57/1 and seemed cantering towards a win.
Vijay heaved at Cremer, was bowled and balls later Manish Pandey got a shocking decision. When the chase was on, it was evident that
IPL stars would not make it …. Manish
Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Samson, Axar Patel – all pale shadows, while Sandeep
Sharma, went for runs once again.
Zimbabwe’s
struggles are far from over - offspinner Prosper Utseya has, in a letter to
Zimbabwe Cricket, claimed that he is a victim of racism and has levelled a
string of allegations against Alistair Campbell, managing director of ZC. In his
letter to Wilson Manase, ZC chairman,
Utseya claims Campbell has a personal agenda and appointed white coaches and administrators during his
2010-2012 stint as chairman of the cricket committee in order to take control
of cricket. Besides, he alleges that
Campbell had a conflict of interest in setting up Dominus Sport, the company
that ran ZC's marketing affairs during his time as cricket committee chairman,
and his actions had an impact on ZC's funds.
With Utseya openly basing some of these claims in the letter on
"rumour", he would appear to be open to legal action, though the
matter may ultimately be dealt with internally at ZC. It is understood that ZC
is currently investigating the letter.
ESPN reports that
the letter copies all ZC board members
and bears the headline "Racism and Victimisation", and begins:
"Through you Mr. Chairman I wish to share my frustrations as I believe I
am a victim of racism and have come to a point where I feel I have been quiet
for too long whilst a lot has been happening." After more than 10,000
words, Utseya finally closes his case with a plea for the board to consider his
concerns. Utseya, who was in Zimbabwe's World Cup squad but did not get a game,
claims he considered leaving the World Cup prematurely out of frustration, and
cites Campbell's pre-tournament comments as a back story to support his
contention that ZC's managing director conspired against his potential
selection.
Utseya was banned
from bowling after testing in September 2014. In December, his offbreak was
found to be illegal but his other deliveries were deemed legal, and so he was
cleared to bowl again so long as he did not utilise his stock ball. This is not the first instance of allegations
of racism surfacing in the Zimbabwe cricket set-up. Cricket remained a
predominantly white sport in Zimbabwe for two decades after majority rule in
1980, although after Henry Olonga became the country's first black cricketer in
1995, other black players started to filter through.
In Srilanka, the
host are chasing 317 in 3rd ODI – in the 2nd, Kusal
Perera hammered Sri Lanka's joint fastest fifty in ODIs [50 off 17 balls],
which made a target of 288 look like a cakewalk. When 92
runs were needed off 112 balls with only four wickets left, debutant Sachith
Pathirana produced a decisive cameo [33 off 28] - to help the hosts square the
series with an action-packed two-wicket victory.
At Lords, at the
time of posting this @ 9 pm – England are looking down the barrel, with a day
to go and another 408 to make with a solitary wicket at hand. The score card reads :
Australia 566/8 decl & 254/2 decl; England 312 & 101/9….
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
19th
July 2015.
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