zimcricketnews.com

In a wide-ranging interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, David Coltart, the new Minister for Education, Sports and Culture, has promised wide-ranging improvements in Zimbabwe's sporting infrastructure - and with the Minister being a keen cricket supporter, the Zimbabwe cricket team are central in his sights. Zimbabwe has a strong sporting culture and history of good performances that has fallen away in recent years, and this is something that he feels needs addressed:

"In many respects my vision for sports is the same as education. What I said earlier was that we had the finest education in Africa in the 1980s. The same applies to sports. As a nation we have punched above our weight. Our hockey women won gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and our cricketers constantly perform well. Many of our athletes perform exceptionally well.

"However we have fallen away in the last 10 years, and I would like to restore the sporting glory of our nation. My feeling is that we have certain attributes that should allow us to perform well. We’ve got this climate which allows our sportsmen and women to play throughout the year, but we tend to disappoint in the major disciplines. In our football we have particularly under-performed. We’ve never gone to the World Cup. There is no reason why we should not qualify for World Cup. My feeling is that this is tied to the collapse of the economy. The key is the resuscitation of the economy in order to get sponsors back."

Cricket gets particular mention:

"I’m a passionate supporter of Zimbabwe cricket. I try to watch every game they play. But the demise of our team in the last five years has been a cause of great distress. I look forward to playing a role in the rehabilitation of our cricket. Nothing will give me greater satisfaction. Cricket needs to be restored. We need to revive the national academy at Highlands, and indeed we need academies in football and rugby and in the other smaller disciplines."

But cricket is an area of my greatest concern. It has a high profile and generates foreign currency. Whilst I commend our young team for performing brilliantly in the recent tours of Bangladesh and Kenya, the fact remains that we have far too many talented players outside Zimbabwe that are not playing for the national team. When I look at Sean Ervine’s average at Hampshire I say to myself ‘here is a guy who should be playing for us’. We need guys like that back. We need someone like Andy Flower to come back and coach our national team. The encouraging thing about cricket is that we can reclaim our former glory very quickly."

On the side's return to Test cricket, he is confident that this can happen sooner than the two years currently envisaged by the ICC:

"Subject to us addressing concerns over accounts in ZC, and subject to us getting all our players back to choose the best team, it is not impossible to get back our Test status as soon as possible. We have to get politics and racism out of sports and start to perform."

On the ZC accounting scandal:

"I don’t know the situation there. I have read the allegations and the defences. I want to know the truth and make recommendations to cabinet. I certainly want to have sight of the issues. I don’t want to speculate and rely on rumour. I stand for transparency - unless there is transparency in our sports bodies we will continue to under-perform. Ineffectiveness affects ability to perform."

On the controversy around the upcoming New Zealand tour:

"My call to the New Zealanders is clear and unequivocal. They’ve got to give this coalition government a chance, and that applies to all levels. I would like to see the New Zealand team touring Zimbabwe. If need be I will go to New Zealand to persuade them to come, just the same way as I’ve been negotiating with teachers’ unions to get schools open. By saying that I am not turning a blind eye to the inadequacies in cricket and our country. My call must not be interpreted that way. My call is in the interest of the public, the players and cricket in Zimbabwe. My call is in terms of sportsmanship."

"My call for the New Zealanders to tour is based on the expectation that the new government will be looking into these [political] issues. We will look at the wider political issues seriously. My wish is that by the time they come in July the issues would have been dealt with."

The interview then goes on to look at rugby, hockey, golf and tennis, amongst other sport, and if you have any interest in Zimbabwean sports is essential reading. The most obvious thing to come out of the interview, though, is that there's now a man in charge of sport in the country who passionately wants the best out of the nation's teams, and will do what he can - money permitting - so help them achieve that. We could be about to enter interesting times...
Zimbabwe Independent - Sports Minister Coltart Promises Crucial Reform