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Peter Chingoka: claimed 'disgruntled hardcore Rhodesians' were trying to destroy Zimbabwe cricket - but based on what evidence?
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The ICC's two-day hearing into accusations by the so-called rebel players that the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has pursued racist policies starts on Thursday in Harare. The ICC has appointed Goolam Vahanvati, India's solicitor-general, and Steven Majiedt, a senior high-court judge in South Africa, to hear the evidence from both sides.
The hearing will be held in private, and some witnesses will only give evidence in writing as they fear physical reprisals should they be identified. It is the latest episode in a six-month saga which started in April with the sacking of Heath Streak as captain.
Here are some of the questions we think the racism-enquiry judges will be wanting answers to:
One of the issues which sparked the Heath Streak crisis was the claim that Zimbabwe's national selectors at that time had, unlike almost any other country's, little cricket-playing experience between them and were actually political appointees. If not, how, for example, did Max Ebrahim and Steve Mangongo become selectors when they appear to have almost no cricket background? There are widespread accusations that the government's influence on the board has increased significantly of late, with the growing power of Ozias Bvute the most obvious evidence of this. Henry Olonga is on record as saying of Bvute and Ebrahim: "The way that [they] used to talk about white people, [they] would probably prefer to have no white people in the team." How have men with seemingly little experience of cricket risen so fast to a position of such power? In May there was a widely-reported incident, verified by several independent witnesses, in which Bvute had a physical disagreement with Mangongo, the then chairman of selectors, which, it is alleged, stemmed from Bvute's insistence that Mangongo pick more non-white players. Neither party denies the incident, although exact descriptions of what happened are disputed. What did happen? In May, Peter Chingoka, the ZCU's chairman, went on record as claiming that there was a reliable source who advised him that a bunch of "disgruntled hardcore Rhodesians" had been plotting to destroy the game in Zimbabwe. His use of the label "Rhodesians" clearly suggests that he regarded them as white. This was partially used to justify action against the rebels. What evidence does he have of this plot? Despite denials, it appears that the chain of command inside the ZCU is slanted towards political appointees. In April, for example, Vince Hogg, the then managing director, was publicly overruled by Bvute, nominally his junior, and a man who several witnesses will confirm is Chingoka's deputy in all but name. What is the exact reporting structure within the ZCU, and are there lines of communication between the ZCU and the government? At the ZCU's annual general meeting, Ahmed Ebrahim, a senior Zimbabwe judge, ICC match referee and father of Max, referred to "devious, undercover activities that have been going on by some people behind the scenes designed to undermine the very fabric and structure of Test cricket here". This appears to have been another comment designed to create the impression that there was a conspiracy against the board. What did he mean and to what was he referring? Why was Dion Ebrahim, who is of Asian descent and widely rumoured to be Max Ebrahim's nephew, reclassified as a white player when he had previously been included in the non-white "quota"? Was this an attempt to include more players acceptable to the Racial Integration Committee, which Bvute headed, and if not, what was the reason for the reclassification? Why are there reports of local journalists being threatened, either in person or on the telephone, when they have tried to highlight such issues? On April 18, Mehluli Sibanda was quoted in The Observer as saying he had received phone calls from a member of the ZCU board who "threatened me with unspecified action and also threatened to report me to the Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Jonathan Moyo, that I am siding with a white man." Was Mark Vermeulen, a white batsman, offered double his match fee not to play in a one-day international for which he'd already been selected, so that Stuart Matsikenyeri could play instead? In May's Wisden Cricketer Chingoka proudly wrote that "the intake of 16 for our academy programme this year includes seven white cricketers". We have only been able to find out one name, and the board has not been willing to identify the other six. As this is at the heart of the ZCU's claims not to be racist, can it supply a full independently-verified list of all those in the academy, including officials and coaches? In April it was reported that three non-white players - not among the original rebels - had withdrawn from the ODI squad to face Sri Lanka. This was denied, and the players subsequently issued a statement that they never had any intention of doing this. However, independent witnesses said that the three had been threatened, and report hearing Mangongo accuse one of them of siding "with those white racists?" Is this true? Mangongo is closely linked with the Takashinga club, where players openly wear Zanu-PF T-shirts in the nets. It was this club that instantly banned Henry Olonga for life after his World Cup black-armband protest with Andy Flower last year. Players from Takashinga have apparently been singled out for preferential treatment by the selectors. A number of sources claim that selection is based as much on racial and tribal lines as ability. Can this be disproved? The rebel players claim that a provincial general manager and the chairman of a province both threatened to boycott the fourth ODI against Bangladesh in March, as well as making threats of a pitch invasion and vandalism to the pitch at Harare Sports Club, because they didn't like the team's racial balance, which they felt contained too few players of colour. Is this true? A senior Asian administrator is on record as having been asked by Mangongo when the Heath Streak crisis started: "Are you with the whites or the blacks? You guys must decide." Is this true?It promises to be an eventful two days.
