Cape Town - Zimbabwe Cricket(ZC) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) met in Harare on Saturday 21 January 2017 with both Boards committing to improve co-operation and bilateral relations between them.
The early discussions covered a wide range of areas including better governance and administration, cricket development and technical support for ZC, the resource limitations and realities faced by both countries, the prospects of CSA supporting ZC to improve in all areas of its mandate and various ICC matters of mutual interest.
The meeting agreed that, after feeding back to their respective Boards, a working group will be established to pick up and explore further the areas identified in this first meeting.
“Now that we have our own house in good shape and recognising that we are the strongest cricketing nation on the continent, we feel the time is right for CSA to assist in the development of cricket with our fellow nations on the African continent,” commented CSA President, Chris Nenzani.
“Despite our own limits and challenges, there are many areas in which we could be of assistance and we want to start with Zimbabwe cricket” he added. “For instance, it is widely acknowledged that CSA has introduced some of the best standards of corporate governance in the world and this is something we can easily share with our neighbours.
“On the playing field we have Namibia playing in our domestic provincial competitions while Zimbabwean teams participate in all our youth cricket weeks and are currently engaged in a tri-series under-19 tournament against ourselves and Sri Lanka.
“What we want to strive for is to create a win-win situation for cricket on the African continent in all its regions and all its aspects,” concluded Nenzani.
“ZC is grateful to CSA for taking this initiative which follows engagement between the two countries at Presidential level,” commented ZC President, Tavengwa Mukuhlani. “CSA can play a leading role to help us to strengthen our game in almost every respect.
“Particular areas in which CSA’s support and experiences will be invaluable include governance and playing issues.
“We hope that this meeting would kick start a process that leads to more meaningful relations between our two countries,” concluded Mukuhlani.
Members in attendance at the meeting were:
Zimbabwe Cricket delegation comprised:
Tavengwa Mukuhlani - Chairman
Sylvester Matshaka - Vice-Chairman
Enock Ikope - Board member
Wilfred Mukondiwa - Managing Director
Ronald Chibwe - Finance Committee member
Givemore Makoni - Head Cricket Affairs
Nesta Vaki - Head Corporate Affairs
Cricket South Africa delegation comprised:
Chris Nenzani - President
Thabang Moroe - Vice-President
Louis von Zeuner - Chairman, Audit & Risk
Haroon Lorgat - Chief Executive