BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
HARARE – Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on Tuesday pulled down social media posts showing the top performers in the country’s first-class competition, the Logan Cup, as debate rages on following a string of questionable team selection that came to a head when the Chevrons lost a home Test series to Afghanistan a month ago.
There has been a chorus of discontent in the past few years over the decisions of the David Mutendera-led national selection panel. The voices grew louder when Zimbabwe, from the cusp of victory, collapsed spectacularly to lose the two Tests to Afghanistan in Bulawayo, with the selectors’ decisions heavily exposed and blamed for the defeat.
The severe criticism directed at ZC was compounded when out-of-favour senior pace bowler Tendai Chatara was heard ranting in a leaked audio – accusing the selectors of nepotism, favouritism and professional incompetence.
Chatara received widespread support for his views, putting ZC under intense scrutiny.
ZC was thrown back into the spotlight by social media users when the association on Tuesday posted the the current top five bowlers and batters in the on-going Logan Cup, a 32-year-old four-day competition. Manicaland Mountaineers’ Chatara lies fifth on the chart with 24 wickets from four games on a table led by English spin bowler Alex Russell (32 wickets in five games), who is turning out for Harare-based Mashonaland Eagles. Another local and forgotten veteran, Midwest Rhinos’ Mike Chinouya, is fourth with 18 wickets while Chatara’s Mountaineers teammate, the spinner Vincent Masekesa, is second with a haul of 24 scalps.
Red-hot Nick Welch, who was surprisingly left out of the Test series against Afghanistan, tops the batters’ chart after piling 544 runs in five outings for Mountaineers. His young brother, Matt Welch, is fifth on 357 runs for the same team. Ben Curran, the English-born son of the later former Zimbabwe all-rounder Kevin Curran, is second with 519 runs for Rhinos. The 28-year-old brother of England internationals Tom and Sam Curran impressed on his maiden appearance for Zimbabwe against Afghanistan in the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests.
With Zimbabwe hosting Ireland in February for a single Test as well as three ODIs and three T20Is, the posts on Tuesday – on Facebook, X and Instagram – placed ZC under unwanted spotlight again over the selection fiasco. The posts were removed on all three platforms about five hours later after gaining heated feedback.
