ZIMBABWE Cricket board chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani says his administration will put all efforts to ensure the country’s national teams perform well on the international stage following his re-election at the helm of the local cricket governing body in Bulawayo on Saturday.
Mukuhlani was unanimously re-elected for a third four-year term during the organisation’s elective annual general meeting, just days after he retained his seat as the House of Assembly legislator for Mhondoro-Ngezi in the general elections.
He will be deputised by Sylvester Matshaka, who was also re-elected unopposed at the same meeting.
The seasoned cricket administrator, who has been credited with turning around ZC’s fortunes from a debt-ridden association to financial stability in his first two terms, said his administration would be targeting further growth in his third term.
“We are here to serve fans, we are here to deliver a product to the fans and we are here to deliver a product to the market.
“The cricket economics is premised on how well we do on the field of play, how well our teams perform, and that determines how much we can get out of our TV rights, out of our commercial rights, out of our ground rights, out of our sponsorship deals,” Mukuhlani said in his acceptance speech.
“But for our team to perform well we must have a solid administration on the ground, we must have a solid management on the ground that is sensitive to the needs of the players, that is sensitive to the needs of the fans and, most importantly, to the welfare of players.
“My leadership as Chairman in the next four years will be to consolidate that position to make sure that when a player puts on the badge and walks onto the field he is proud, she is proud to be a Zimbabwean, they are prepared to die a little bit for the flag, they are prepared to die a little for the bird.
“That can only happen when us the leaders, when us the administrators demonstrate that level of patriotism and, I repeat, how we administer our stewardship in terms of resources that are at our disposal as we run the organisation and, most importantly, the financial resources that are at our disposal.
Mukuhlani, who will lead Zimbabwe to the 2026 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, which they will co-host with South Africa and Namibia emphasised the need for accountability within all levels of domestic cricket.
“We need to be an accountable organisation, we need to be accountable people, we need to be accountable provinces, we need to show leadership at every level.
“We need to show empathy for our staff, we need to show empathy for our players.
“We have been given an opportunity as a board to lead this organisation out of a possible 15 million people who are maybe more capable than us but the opportunity is for us today to lead Zimbabwe Cricket.
“Let’s respect that honour that has been bestowed on us by the stakeholders and deliver on the promise and expectations of the nation,” he said.
Saturday’s elective general meeting also ushered in a new 13-member board to run the game in the country following provincial elections.
The seven provinces who made it onto the new Board are: Bulawayo Metropolitan (Godwin Dube), Harare Metropolitan (Tafadzwa Madoro), Manicaland (Godfrey Nyadongo), Mashonaland East (Mr Godfrey Kaswa), Mashonaland West (Ronald Chibwe), Matabeleland South (Arthur Maposa) and Midlands (John Makuwalo).
The provinces then elected onto the Board five directors nominated on the basis of their specialist skills who include Mukuhlani,Matshaka, Ms Maureen Kuchocha, Lloyd Mhishi and Blessing Ngondo.
Source: New Zimbabwe
