Just when you think it can't get worse

Suspicions that links between Zimbabwe Cricket and the Mugabe government are closer than anyone in officialdom cares to admit have hardly been helped by recent events.

Last week, Cricinfo reported on a meeting held in Harare at which a number of influential stakeholders discussed a motion of no confidence in the ZC board. Despite much bluster and an oh-so-friendly story in the government-controlled Herald newspaper rubbishing our coverage, the key is that nobody has actually denied that the meeting took place. And behind the scenes, pro-board elements in the regions were mobilised to denounce their own local chairman and efforts have been strenuous to oust those at the heart of the unrest.

One of the main issues which has angered players and administrators alike is the growing concern with the finances. The accounts at the AGM were rushed through - the board denies this version of events, although Cricinfo has spoken to several present. Those attending did not include the press, who were barred as they arrived. The official reason was the board feared they would cause trouble. If that meant asking tough questions, then it was probably right.

The board itself is struggling to even hold a committee meeting as it is unable to get a quorum. There are even suggestions that the AGM itself was unconstitutional for the same reason, and embarrassingly, and announcement of new national selectors had to be retracted, again for the same reason.

Back to the finances. Reports are doing the rounds that the board is hard up. It lost money last year because of the aborted Australian tour and then when England cut their one-day series from five to four matches (that was down to the government's aborted attempt to ban foreign journalists from entering the country). There are also strong rumours that other internal matters warrant a closer look. One journalist, whose probing clearly hit a nerve, suddenly found himself contacted and threatened by the notorious Ministry of Information. The official there warned that attacks against the board would be seen as attacks against Robert Mugabe, ZC's patron.

The players are also deeply unhappy - or those that remain are. Since August, three of the most experienced members of the side - Heath Streak, Craig Wishart and Stuart Carlisle - have quit, the last two citing political events inside cricket as being at the heart of their decisions. The rest, including Tatenda Taibu, the captain, are refusing to sign new contracts and are protesting against the dismissal of Phil Simmons as coach. His replacement, Kevin Curran, is seen by some as being too closely allied to the board for their liking and they want Simmons back.

The new player contracts are remarkable for the paltry sums on offer. They are tied to performance in matches - which would be fine assuming Zimbabwe actually had any games before next May - and are not index linked. In a land where inflation is nearing 500%, that is fairly crucial.

On the field, defeat has followed defeat, and despite bullish talk, the last month has been an all-time low for Zimbabwe. They lost three matches against Kenya - while these were sold to Kenya as games against Zimbabwe A, so humiliated were the selectors by an innings defeat in a little over four sessions in the first three-dayer, that for games two and three they fielded a virtual 1st XI. They still lost. The Under-23 side in South Africa and the President's XI in India, again near-as-dammit a full side, have suffered a string of defeats.

Back to the vote 12 days ago. In April and May, Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman and also a key figure in the African Cricket Association, was instrumental in helping to negotiate the removal of the discredited regime of Sharad Ghai in Kenya. Along with Percy Sonn, Chingoka guided Kenyan cricket into elections which ended the Ghai era, a role for which he was rightly praised.

In 2002, Ghai, faced with rebellion by stakeholders, had created three new (and as Cricinfo revealed, bogus) provinces whose votes enabled him to stay in control despite having less than 10% of the stakeholders and almost no players behind his board. Three years later, faced with a similar level of unrest, and rumours that stakeholders inside Zimbabwe were considering a no-confidence vote, Zimbabwe Cricket has responded by creating five new - and, so those on ground claim, dubious - provinces whose votes will, coincidently, enable the current regime to survive. A good idea. One can only wonder where it came from.