Another step towards extinction

Tatenda Taibu: the latest loss © AFP

Each week Zimbawe cricket slips further towards the abyss. The last few months have brought a depressingly remorseless stream of stories highlighting just how rotten the situation has become. Today's announcement that Tatenda Taibu, their young captain, has quit, not only as captain but from the national side as well, is another nail in the coffin for Zimbabwe.

Captains come and go, but Taibu is one of the side's few players good enough to seriously challenge for a place in one of the other Test XIs - and, no insult intended, but Bangladesh are excluded for the purposes of this comparison - in fact, arguably the only one who could following the retirement of his predecessor, Heath Streak. There are some, and I include myself, who put forward a case for his inclusion ahead of Mark Boucher in the World XI which played at Sydney in October.

He was thrown in at the deep end when Streak and his so-called rebels went on strike in April 2004, and he was trumpeted by the board as being a shining example of the new generation. He warranted the selection on merit, and in his first few matches he captained, led the batting, kept wicket, and even took off his pads and bowled seamers when the occasion demanded. There was a suspicion that the board felt that he was malleable - he was only 21 at the time of his appointment - and that he would do as he was told. A few early comments hinted that might be the case, but it soon became clear he was his own man.

He was unable to check Zimbabwe's on-field decline, but there is no man playing the game who could, so far have they fallen. If his own form sometimes dipped - although the stats show his personal record is better as captain - then that was only to be expected as he tried to soldier on against a backdrop of resignations, retirements, and selections made increasingly for political purposes rather than ones of merit.

The dam broke in September after two disastrous home series against New Zealand and India. Rumours abounded from opposition players that the Zimbabwe changing-room was a virtual war zone, with factions pulling the young team in every direction and hardly a day passing without a row. Taibu himself, so a local reporter said, only found out about the dismissal of Phil Simmons as national coach through the newspapers and when he questioned a senior ZC official was told it was none of his business.

When the players were offered a derisory renumeration package, he lined up with his side when they attacked the way the board operated (even though his own package was among the best) and then again was the spokesman a fortnight ago when 74 of the country's cricketers publicly slammed the board and said they would refuse to play again unless Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, and Ozias Bvute, the MD, resigned. It galled them that while they were being thrown crumbs, those at the top table were living the high life.

Taibu's reward was to have a provincial chairman threaten his safety and that of his wife and his new baby. He was forced into hiding, and that same man again confronted Taibu this week. And the board, through their favourite vehicle, the compliant and state-run local media, slammed him for selling out. And that same media carried an article from the very man who threatened Taibu, accusing him of being racist and of being responsible for the decline of the national side.

Although the board claims it offered him help, it was noticeable that no significant attempt was made to back him or to play down the sniping. Indeed, a campaign to undermine his credibility was subtly started. And as for the man who twice threatened Taibu? The board has not lifted a finger.

Taibu met Chingoka this week. It soon became clear that the chairman was feeling strong enough not to have to do anything to address the issues raised by the players, and so Taibu took the honourable step of quitting. That Chingoka was emboldened less than a week after seeming to be on the ropes was partially because Zimbabwe itself is morally corrupt, partly because the ICC had made it clear that it was not going to start putting the squeeze on him and his cronies.

Taibu will now head abroad where a player of his skill and commitment will be welcomed with open arms and his talent rewarded. Just as importantly, his family will be out of the reach of some of Zimbabwe cricket's more undesirable elements. Back home, the board's reaction is likely to continue with a campaign to portray him as sinner rather than sinned against.

The real sadness is that a wholehearted player and captain has been forced out while the cancer that is killing cricket inside Zimbabwe continues to eat away at the very fabric of the game.