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ZC Managing Director Ozias Bvute gave an interview to The Herald's Robson Sharuko recently, talking up the recent changes to the domestic structure and administration of the game, and looking to the future. The version of the interview that's been posted online is somewhat edited, so for curiosity value - and completeness - you can find the full version below the cut. The interview talks about the return of the "rebels", the new franchise structure, the wealth of youth talent that Bvute believes exists in the country, and the return of Mark Vermeulen, amongst other subjects, and is well worth a read - even though it reads a bit like a press release in places. :)

We have ventured into the Franchise Format of the game. What is the general mood at Zimbabwe Cricket today?
We have always been up-beat but the mood can certainly be described as more festive now, with a greater air of expectation and a sense of purpose emanating from everyone involved. We ventured into franchise cricket for two main reasons; the first was to be able to professionally contract more cricketers on a full-time employment basis such that they could concentrate on strengthening and sharpening their skills.

In the past, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) was only able to contract 15 to 22 players, this number was not sufficient to sustain a set-up that was ultimately preparing for international cricket. With the franchise system having come into effect, where each province is contracting 15 or so players on a full time basis, you now have a pool of 75 to 100 people who are solely and fully committed to playing and perfecting their cricket from Monday to Sunday, day in and day out. The strain of worrying about how to commute, how to make ends meet if time is being spent practicing in-order to make the national team, and how to survive, are all alleviated.

The second reason is to improve the playing standard. You can only get better through playing competitive cricket, so we have created this format that allows for us to strengthen our domestic game not only by contracting local players but by also giving foreigners an opportunity to be contracted to play in our leagues. This has the added advantage of creating experience over time, experience which will later translate into creating better international cricketers.

How has the first steps in the franchise format been?
We are in the second week of a seven month season and these first few days have been exciting. There is a definite overwhelming sense of history being made. Like everything that is new, we have had a few teething problems at inception but that aside, the standard of cricket has been good with competitive matches being played all across Zimbabwe. We truly have a product in the making. I am sure that three to four seasons from now we will all stand back and be proud to witness the achievements that will have been made.

Are we taking steps in the right direction, with concrete evidence of change, or are we still in the trenches and battling those old wars that dominated the game?
If by 'we' you mean the present administration, on our part we are not and have never been in the trenches. We have always tried to progress the game of cricket at considerable personal and emotional cost to ourselves. We would hope that those that chose to fight against us over the principle of inclusion have now realized that it is an irreversible process and that we can all work together, that is what we are working towards.

As far as being on the right direction goes, we are clearly on the right path. The cricket community in Zimbabwe is large but has for a long time been divided and it is unfortunate that in the past, the various groups chose to fight rather than engage one another, but I can understand how these conflicts arose. Change in any society is initially difficult to fathom and to accept. Some of the proposals we made years ago that involved rocking the boat in so far as the various comfort zones that existed, obviously brought about a violent reaction.

Hindsight is a wonderful tool and in hindsight I think that everyone involved in the recent history of ZC could have dealt with the matter of who should be playing cricket in Zimbabwe a lot better. Everyone, and more importantly, cricket would have been better served had we engaged each other with greater vigour, regardless of disagreement, until a workable solution was found.

I notice that the catch phrase at the moment is "Change" - change is the only game in town and certainly all the parties in today's ZC have embraced the concepts of reconciliation, understanding, tolerance, and ultimately to concepts of change. And the only positive change that we are all working towards is the strengthening of ZC, for the good of all.

Zimbabwe Cricket has been labelled as an intolerant organization that could not work with different communities, where did this all start?
For many years, it would appear that through various and concentrated efforts, there are some individuals who have worked both in the private and public forums to create that perception. It is however, far from the truth. The crux of our problems began with the call for us to make cricket a more inclusive and integrated sport. You will agree that cricket, unlike soccer, is the domain of a few by virtue of cost. To address this, the idea at the time was to make cricket more accessible to everybody.

The plan was to create a roadmap that would clearly define how this change would come about. ZC engaged a consultant who met our various stakeholders to produce a voluminous document called the ZCU Cricket integration Review. Off of this documents, a task team was set up which created a number of benchmarks that would allow, in ten years for cricket to become the number one sport of choice, a sport that had mass participation and whose participation would span the various ethnic communities that exist in Zimbabwe. Ultimately the objective was to ensure that we tapped into as many people as possible so that the sport could be vibrant.

This process disintegrated when individual representatives of one or two communities chose to spread untruths that were based on the fact that we wanted to make cricket the sole realm of a particular community. When the matters were discussed privately in the pubs and restaurants, talk of quotas became rife and a huge rift developed on the premise that we were trying to "take away" cricket. You will agree that a sport cannot be played by only 200 people and still compete internationally in the long term. A few days ago I sat with Davie Houghton who will soon be directing our coaching activities and we talked about all the water that had gone under the bridge. We both recalled an interview he gave in 1999 where he said that in order for cricket to succeed, it was important that like Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe tap into the full resource that is available to it through population, rather than continue to rely on a small segment of society which at the time, constituted hardly 200 competitive players to make up a national team.

So our various disagreements started with this movement to safeguard the future of cricket. Unfortunately, rather than building on the strengths and achievements we had already garnered, many were set aback during this conflict. We have nevertheless pressed on with this policy that said that cricket is for every Zimbabwean. In the 10th year of celebrating cricketing excellence we coined the phrase "excellence in diversity", which remains our guiding motto today.

Have we seen the worst of the divisions and can we say that, finally, sense has prevailed and we are now on the right track back to sanity and, of course, Test cricket?
A common sense of purpose is the basis of success for any organization. While we were trying to advance this policy of inclusion and ensure the smooth implementation of this mandate, one or two individuals decided to hijack the process and rather than remain a noble cause that sought to involve everybody, it became a battle of egos, with one particular individual using the power they had amassed to cause unrest. Subsequently when at a board meeting in 2004 we removed some of the power we had vested in this particular individual , he then went on a rampage where he maliciously spread rumours and divided the board on the basis of the information he was propagating, causing the board to become dysfunctional and almost bringing about a complete collapse in the organizations structure.

This coupled with the player disputes surrounding selection, played into the national politics at the time. What we were trying to do was misconstrued as supposed reverse racism and part of the process where redistribution was taking place in Zimbabwe.

I am confident with this new phase we have embarked on, all those who felt it necessary, for whatever reason, to turn their backs on cricket in Zimbabwe, will realize that the door is open for everyone who wants to participate and that they have a role to play to make us more competitive and ultimately use the game as a unifying force. I'd like to think that the divisions that rocked cricket in the past are over but with sport and the politics of sport anything can happen. But the current crop of administrators is firmly set in ensuring that we return to test cricket that we voluntarily withdrew and that we leave it on a stronger footing.

You have seen it all. What has kept you going strong amid all that turbulence?
Ultimately Robson, we have fought for an ideal and that ideal has been an inclusive cricket structure that gives every child an opportunity to play, regardless of creed, race or gender. So when I wake up in the morning I am very clear that this is my guiding principle. Many a parent will tell you of the harrowing stories at the various schools where their children have either been dropped or have not been picked for teams, or unexplainably been left out of touring squads.

That is an unacceptable set of circumstances.

We envision a sport that allows for all to participate and that participation should be based on equality, fairness and merit. Ultimately, I have the Lord to thank for the strength and conviction that he has allowed to prevail in me and for the comfort that I have gotten from my communion with him. Like all human beings I am prone to fault but I can honestly say that this spiritual journey has given me comfort in moments of great difficulty.

The return of Dave Houghton, Heath Streak and company. What does this mean for the game in the country?
We are delighted that we are able to engage and use all the resources available to ZC to make the game better. Davie and Streak have a wealth of knowledge and I am confident that under their stewardship, the various teams, from our age-group to our franchises to our national level will be well taken care off. The game can only get better.

What our national team has lacked at the best of times is experience and what to do at crucial moments during crucial games. These expert resources, along with Andy Waller and Alistair Campbell bring the wealth of experience that has been absent over the last few years.

What is the state of the youth structures of our game? The emerging talent that could explode on the scene in a few years time?
When Andrew Waller asked me about what the state of youth cricket in Zimbabwe, I told him that the cricketers were falling out of the sky like mangoes would fall out of the trees in the wet season. Cricket has become the catch phrase and I want to attribute two things to that.

Negative or positive, all the coverage that we have gotten over time has firmly placed cricket in the national conscious. Eight or nine years ago, the average man on the street did not have a clear cricket consciousness; neither did they know what cricket was. I am confident , that from Luveve to Dangamvura to Highfield, Borrowdale to Ascot, cricket is now the in thing. People acknowledge and embrace it as an alternative sport to soccer and alternative career, they are enjoying it and a new culture is being developed here.

I am sure that when the metamorphosis finally reaches its end, we will have a cricketing culture as distinct and unique as that in India or the West Indies. But to answer your question more specifically, a wealth of talent abounds. We have teams from Under 13 to Under 19 level and a woman's national team, all of which are continuously in development. This pipeline will continue to produce stronger players as a lot more people begin to participate. Look at what we have managed to produce under difficult circumstances; wonderful players like Elton Chigumbura who came from humble backgrounds but today hold their place in the world. There are plenty others just like him who are waiting to be given that opportunity to take their place under the sun.

Can you say that the administrative side of the game has now been sorted out for good and the focus is now on getting the improvement in the results on the field?
Cricket has always been ad will contnue to be profesionally run. Our offices and structers are manned by highly capable people, who have dedicated their lives in making cricket work.therefore there has never been any problem with the administration of the game. The board and administrators who are at ZC have always been committed to the growth and development of cricket. We are all -old, new and returning - firmly focused on creating a winning team that is truly representative.

The focus on our part has never been politics, or power, or race; at the end of the day this is a sport, one that is open to everyone, regardless of the factors that I have spoken about. I was astounded during a joint interview with the ZC board chairman, Peter Chingoka in London about four or five years ago, when a reporter from the Times of England asked me which political party I belonged to. It is not about political affiliation but about participation. Participation that ultimately allows for us to produce the best team to walk onto the field; that will allow for each and every Zimbabwean who is a supporter of cricket to either tune into their television sets or come en masse to our various stadia and support and shout, "Go Zimbabwe go!"

What have been your highlights in the administration of the game, the low points and anything that you could probably have done different given a choice?
It has been a tumultuous journey to say the least, but every so often something happens that makes it all worth it. One of my most touching moments and one that I will cherish for many years to come is when Mark Vermuelen made a hundred at Bulawayo during the Bangladesh Series this year, and at the end of the match he attended a press conference and at the end of it asked the journalists if he could say a few words. His words were that he wanted to thank his parents and ZC for standing by him during the difficult time he had undergone and for giving him a second chance to do the one thing that he was most passionate about in life and that was to play cricket.

This touched my heart.

You will recall that at some stage, Mark went through a difficult patch which culminated in his trying to burn down two of our buildings and succeeding to on one. I thought the most important principle there was that as a board and an administration, we had found it in ourselves to forgive him. We have been accused of many things, from vindictiveness, to being thieves to being thugs. But ultimately, the human spirit exhibited by Mark, where one who is at their lowest point, reaches out, is accepted, and goes on to excel, is the principle that we have embedded in to our ethos at ZC. Mark is a true hero and he will continue to play a pivotal role in the growth of Zimbabwe's cricket.

From a playing perspective it's always painful when a team you know has so much potential and talent does not do as well as you expect. Recently we were bowled out by Sri Lanka for a low score. This should not have happened, our team is better than that. Moments like that are often difficult to comprehend but again, the human spirit is such that you move on to fight another day and our boys can only get better.

Do you have any regrets and is that why you have gone the franchise route?
I do have regrets but ultimately, history teaches you to be a better person for tomorrow. As we move forward I am confident that we are doing so with a clear understanding that we want to make our structures better. We have embarked on Franchise cricket in order to ensure that the game becomes the number one sport of choice in Zimbabwe. We looked at the soccer model and realized that you needed franchises that were independent of the mother bodies in order to run the local game and compete against each other. We hope that in creating these independent franchises we have created a platform that will make cricket better.

So the franchise system is not about atonement?
No, it is about trying to find a model that allows for cricket in Zimbabawe to be better, it's about looking around the world and seeing what best practice is and trying to adapt it to our environment so that we achieve the same level over time.

I am confident that in a few years time the Mashonaland Eagles, Matabeleland Tuskers, Mountaineers, Southern Rocks and Midwest Rhinos will all be teams that people have an association with, an affinity to and ultimately teams that they support. ZC was everything to everyone, from paying the grounds-men at the various schools, to looking after the cleaner at the academy house, the cricket manager in Mutare, to the coach in Kwekwe. Through this franchise system we are saying no, we as ZC are going to move forward to what our rightful role should be , which is to be the governing body of the sport of cricket that dictates and determines policy on a day to day basis. That is the platform that we have now created.

You may not know this but we employ over 250 people. What we are saying now is that it is not our sole responsibility to employ all these people, it is the responsibility of the decentralized units to grow their sport and make sure that these people fit in the national cog of ensuring that we have a national team that will do well.

What is the state of our relationship with the other members of the international cricket family right now?
Our relations are very cordial. We receive a significant amount of support from a number of countries. We have an administrator exchange programme with Cricket Australia (CA) where our head administrators go on a yearly basis and glean from how they run their organization, they have offered us various coaching scholarships where a number of coaches gain certification; Walter Chawaguta was one such beneficiary. Also players have benefited from the CA programme.

We have warm bilateral relations with Cricket South Africa where we are currently working on a new memorandum of understanding which will determine how the relationship will be governed over the next five years with the sole intention of strengthening ZC.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has been kind enough to allow us to participate in some of their domestic competitions for which we are most grateful.

I have only mentioned those with whom we have some form of direct partnership with but we have very cordial relations with all the others and over time these will get even better.

When do you see us making a return to Test cricket?
As you know, the road map to test cricket has been clearly mapped out by the Cricket Committee which is chaired by the very able Alistair Campbell. Alistair has said that we want to be back in the next 24 months, so, we are targeting a return in the next 24 months, based on the preparatory work which we are currently doing which involves; playing a lot more four day cricket, getting some of our younger players exposed through the intercontinental Cup, playing franchise cricket, and ultimately beginning to post results that show we are making progress.