Simmons breaks silence on Zimbabwe

Former coach Phil Simmons feels there could be an international scandal if the team was allowed to regain Test status next year.

Former coach Phil Simmons has painted a gloomy picture of cricket in Zimbabwe, and believes it would be nothing short of international scandal if they were allowed to regain Test status next year.

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Simmons, the former West Indies all-rounder, asserts the massive player exodus has seriously affected the Zimbabweans, and Terrence Duffin's side would face disastrous results if they are returned to the fold of Test playing nations next year.

"There is no fast track into international cricket," Simmons said during a brief visit to his native Trinidad & Tobago.

"I heard an ignorant statement from the convener of selectors in Zimbabwe that from the players just beneath this team in the Caribbean, he could make a Test player in 12 months," he said.

Zimbabwe's problems can be traced back to the 2003 ICC World Cup, they jointly hosted with South Africa and Kenya.

Henry Olonga, Zimbabwe's first black international cricketer, and his white compatriot Andy Flower, the country's leading batsman, took to the field for a match wearing black armbands 'to mourn the death of democracy in their beloved country.'

The mass exodus began when Olonga, Flower, his brother Grant, and players like Heath Streak, Sean Ervine and some 15 others walked away from the game, citing racism among administrators.

The death knell for the game came when Tatenda Taibu, its 22-year-old national captain, fled the country last December to pursue his career in Bangladesh.

Taibu disclosed a cricket official, following his allegations of mismanagement by Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Peter Chingoka and managing director Ozias Bvute, had physically threatened him and his family.

Other young, promising players like batsmen Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Dion Ebrahim, as well as fast bowlers Tinashe Panyangara and Douglas Hondo have all followed.

Simmons feels its wishful thinking for anyone to expect Zimbabwe to return to the cut and thrust of Test cricket next year.

"I have never seen a Test player formed in 12 months other than people like Brian Lara and so on, who are naturally gifted," he said.

"So there is no fast-tracking of Test players, and so I believe Zimbabwe will not play Test cricket next year."

Simmons feels as long as the same coaching structure and the same administrative structure remains, Zimbabwe will be right where they are now when they return to the Caribbean next year for the 2007 ICC World Cup.

"If things change and the ICC steps in and gets things sorted out, and they get some of the players back, they can be competitive," he said.

"When you look at the people that they are missing, they can be competitive. Learning is talking cricket, and there is no experience in the dressing room from which the players can draw."

Simmons said that the manner in which West Indies rolled over the Zimbabweans in the fifth ODI at Gros Islet on Wednesday is how the visitors should have been manhandled from the beginning and is indicative of things to come.