How Zimbabwe returned from abyss to World Cup resurgenceMedia caption, Zimbabwe shock Australia at T20 World CupByHenry MoeranBBC Sport cricket reporterPublished4 hours agoFor those of a certain generation, the idea of the Zimbabwe cricket team succeeding on a global stage is entirely plausible.Reaching the second stage of a World Cup, as they have in this T20 tournament, once seemed a possible and even expected achievement.The late 1990s saw Test series wins against India and Pakistan.At the 1999 World Cup, a side clad in a loud red uniform finished an admirable fifth in the Super Six stage, narrowly missing out on the semi-finals.With stars like future England coach Andy Flower, and bowlers Heath Streak and Henry Olonga, they proved a relatively small country could provide some of the world’s finest players.The future looked bright. But then – wilderness.This is how Zimbabwe battled back to impress again on the biggest stage.The wilderness yearsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Henry Olonga wore a black armband at the 2003 Cricket World Cup to protest against the Robert Mugabe regime in ZimbabweAt the 2003 World Cup – hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya – Flower and Olonga wore black armbands in response to the ‘death of democracy’ under the country’s leader Robert Mugabe. Both men subsequently fled the country.A year later, 14 senior players resigned in protest at political interference and selection quotas. By 2006, massive defeats and off-field struggles led to Zimbabwe voluntarily suspending its own Test status.For 15 years, the side languished with only occasional moments to remind dejected supporters of previous successes. A return to Test cricket in 2011 saw a win over Bangladesh, but national governing body Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) accumulated debts reportedly as high as $27m (£20m at current conversion rate).Speaking to the BBC in 2023, former all-rounder Sean Williams reflected on the darker days.”There were more office members employed than players,” he stated. “It was a nightmare.”People knew how much money Zimbabwe Cricket was getting paid but nothing was happening. It looked like it was dying at that time – if not dead.”The nadir arguably came in 2019, when the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended ZC and barred them from qualifying for the 2021 T20 World Cup.Zimbabwe’s black armband protest remembered
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Published7 February 2013
