Ex-Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu short-listed for USA coach job

BY SPORTSCAST WRITER

HARARE – Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Tatenda Taibu could land his second international coaching job after bring shortlisted with two others for the USA head coach job following the departure of Australian Stuart Law in October.

56-year-old ex-Australia batman Law guided the USA at the T20 World Cup in June 2024 in the United States and the Caribbean, but his contract was terminated just seven months into the job.

Taibu, who himself resigned as Papua New Guinea coach in February after leading them at that 2024 T20 World Cup, is now a leading contender for the vacant USA post.

“Straight after PNG, I was interviewed for the USA head coach role, which I was shortlisted for the final three, but a decision has not been made by the board in regards to that one,” Taibu, who is in Harare on a visit back home in Harare, told SportsCast on Sunday.

Taibu was first appointed PNG coach in August 2023.

But the 41-year-old ex-wicketkeeper, who lives with his family in Liverpool in the UK, rendered his resignation in January following a fallout between players and the PNG cricket board over governance issues.

Taibu however told AP that he left the PNG role because of a “few reasons”, but adding that the “main reason is that I was spending a lot of time away from family” whilst his wife was studying at a university in the UK and their two sons were in boarding school.

The PNG coaching post was the first international coaching assignment for Taibu, who runs a private coaching centre in Liverpool away from regular engagements in Asia.

Taibu said coaching a national team didn’t faze him as he looked forward to the next challenge, if appointed.

“It was what I thought it would be,” he said.

“Yes, there are challenges and there are takeaways. It is interesting to coach different people because at that level it’s not really that you’re coaching someone, it’s kind of like you’re managing a group of grown-ups. And you’re working together to find solutions to the problems that the team will be facing. So that’s how I look at it. As opposed to the actual coaching, which the name of the position holds.”

Taibu was Zimbabwe’s first Black captain and Test cricket’s youngest skipper for 15 years before Afghanistan spin ace Rashid Khan broke the record in 2019.