Hamilton Masakadza steps down

Let's all put what we think his next post is.

I'm going with Convenor. The most powerful post in Zim cricket if given full autonomy.

Alternatively they will create a post for him- HPC Big Boss.

Ya I heard he'd planned to go back in April. His family are there, I think they may have tried it here and not liked it, or just weren't prepared to give it a shot.

Hammy ain't going anywhere, onward and upward for him.

Kirby has gone back to Somerset

Former Somerset fast bowler, Steve Kirby will return to the Club as Bowling Coach.

Steve, who claimed more than 180 wickets for the Club between 2011 and 2014, will reprise the role that he held before taking up the position of Lead Bowling Coach for Zimbabwe in 2022.

Regarding his return, Steve said: “I’d like to hugely thank everyone at Zimbabwe Cricket for giving me the chance to work within the international game during the last few years. It’s an experience that I will never forget, and it was a genuine privilege to be able to work at that level. I’ve met so many fantastic people who I would now class as life-long friends.

“I’ve learned so much during my time away. Working in such a rewarding and humbling country has taught me so much, in particular in the areas of man-management. The benefits of this experience will certainly aid me in any coaching role in the future and I can’t wait to be able to bring these skills to Taunton and help support what is an amazing squad of players.

“However, spending so much time away from my family and children has been difficult. The position at Somerset will give me the chance to spend more time with them, and that’s something that’s very important to me.

Kirby leaving is a big shame. Ngarava has improved vastly in the past two years - Kirbs has done a great job with him. I loved how he belted out the Zim anthem (in all three languages!) before matches too.

A big loss but was probably always only going to be here for a year or two.

Masakadza head of the new high performance academy or whatever, is my bet.

Who’s the new DoC then? Please be Houghton.

I may be wrong here but I thought at the weekend and comms one of the commentators at some point said ‘Dirk Viljoen, the director of cricket’. May have been a slip of the tongue or a mistake or my ears not working.

Dirk was probably doing Masakadza's job anyway, it was a duplicated role, that's an obvious swap. Not that ZC are known for doing obvious things. Makoni was the man on the ground, who then seems to have given that post to Masakadza and then they seem to have given that role to Viljoen. Those roles are blurred, but Vijoen is the junior so in true Zim tradition he'll be doing all the work.

Masakadza is not a people person. He's very quiet and aloof and as a fact is not well liked. He looks after himself, as do and did a number of the senior players. Everyone knows he's the inside man and people don't trust him and are very cautious around him, not easy to change that perception.

In most organisations here the more senior you become the more money you earn and the more free time you have, you delegate, but if you're going down the toilet it should be all hands on deck and everyone tighten their belts. Here we have belt extenders.

The problem is the players who are the heart and soul of this endeavour can't afford belts.

The trick is to keep earning the fat salary and figure out how to make the workers work hard for a pittance. It's vexing if the workers aren't delivering and you need time for golf and trying to figure out where and how to make some extra cash for yourself. You have to fix and maintain the engine room. People here view senior roles as semi-retirement. It's an ingrained and terrible culture. It's not just why cricket is in trouble, it's a malaise that afflicts the whole country.

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 6:47 pm

Do we know who all have applied for Head Coach position so far?

I get a feeling that there may not be many high profile coaches that might be interested to be employed under ZC.

You'll be surprised, theres only 11 test nation head coach positions in the world.

Look at our history, we have a star studded coaching lineup for the most part, except when we experimented with locals in Waller and Mangongo when we were jewwing up on finances.

Last 20 years:

Geoff Marsh (after coaching oz)

Phil Simmons

Curran

Brown

Butcher

Mangongo

Waller

Whatmore

Streak

Rajput

Houghton

We don't even know who's put in a CV, who they've approached or who's on the shortlist.

The only rumour has been Trevor Penny.

Man, we need more transparency than this.

Not a single journalist or sports writer has followed up on the Singo Saga. Only Russia and China have tighter control over information.

If I could pick a coach of my choice it would probably be Andy Flower, but i know thats not on the table.

ZIMDOGGY wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:54 pm

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 6:47 pm

Do we know who all have applied for Head Coach position so far?

I get a feeling that there may not be many high profile coaches that might be interested to be employed under ZC.

You'll be surprised, theres only 11 test nation head coach positions in the world.

Look at our history, we have a star studded coaching lineup for the most part, except when we experimented with locals in Waller and Mangongo when we were jewwing up on finances.

Last 20 years:

Geoff Marsh (after coaching oz)

Phil Simmons

Curran

Brown

Butcher

Mangongo

Waller

Whatmore

Streak

Rajput

Houghton

With the hundreds of franchises around and the amount of money that comes in by coaching them, coaching an international team is no longer the priority of top coaches. Esp when we are dealing with tems outside of the big 3.

If I'm not wrong, Pakistan are currently trying to rope in Shane Watson, who is not a high profile coach first of all and on top of that, despite agreeing to pay him a huge amount of salary, Watto still hasn't made up his mind. We are talking about coaching a former ODI and T20 WC winning team. People have different priorities now.

For Zimbabwe, if he agrees, I think Grant Flower will be a great option. Otherwise I won't mind someone from the Subcontinent who is street smart. Depends on the options we have.

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 11:34 am

ZIMDOGGY wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 11:54 pm

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 6:47 pm

Do we know who all have applied for Head Coach position so far?

I get a feeling that there may not be many high profile coaches that might be interested to be employed under ZC.

You'll be surprised, theres only 11 test nation head coach positions in the world.

Look at our history, we have a star studded coaching lineup for the most part, except when we experimented with locals in Waller and Mangongo when we were jewwing up on finances.

Last 20 years:

Geoff Marsh (after coaching oz)

Phil Simmons

Curran

Brown

Butcher

Mangongo

Waller

Whatmore

Streak

Rajput

Houghton

With the hundreds of franchises around and the amount of money that comes in by coaching them, coaching an international team is no longer the priority of top coaches. Esp when we are dealing with tems outside of the big 3.

If I'm not wrong, Pakistan are currently trying to rope in Shane Watson, who is not a high profile coach first of all and on top of that, despite agreeing to pay him a huge amount of salary, Watto still hasn't made up his mind. We are talking about coaching a former ODI and T20 WC winning team. People have different priorities now.

Yes, but would you want to live in pakistan?