Streak hits back at racism claims

Sacked Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak has taken to social media to defend himself against suggestions of racism from Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani.

Streak and the entire coaching staff, as well as captain Graeme Cremer and convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu, were dismissed following Zimbabwe's failure to reach the 2019 World Cup, after they finished outside the top two in last month's qualifying tournament, which they hosted.

In the aftermath, chairman Mukuhlani implied racism had played a role in Streak's selections.

"Streak was the coach and selector, he was entitled to change the team as he found fit but the question is: why did he change the team in the manner that he did?" Mukuhlani told Daily News. "The white players knew PJ Moor was going to play (against UAE) but none of the black players knew about it.

"Cephas Zhuwao was only informed (he had been omitted) in the warm-up. Why didn't Streak inform the entire team?"

Streak made an emphatic response online, dismissing any suggestions he was racist as "preposterous and laughable".

"I've been accused by the chairman of ZC of being a racist," Streak said, speaking in Ndebele, an indigenous Zimbabwean language. "I find this preposterous and laughable and even to respond to them for people who know me, is lowering my standards

"But I just want to make a few things notable. Our selection panel consisted of myself, Tatenda Taibu and Douglas Hondo. They are always consulted, and we always reached consensus on our teams.

"The allegations that during the WCQ, I dropped black players for white players is also ludicrous. When I dropped people like Kyle Jarvis for Tendai Chisoro nothing was said, but when I dropped Cephas Zhwao for PJ Moor, then I'm a racist.

"Those who are around me and who know me and are most important to me as in the players can vouch for that (I'm not a racist)."

With respected former captains Streak and Taibu in positions of power, and an historic away ODI series victory in Sri Lanka last July, there had been a glimmer of hope among those within Zimbabwe cricket.

The returns from county Kolpak deals of Jarvis and Brendan Taylor, as well as the appointment of a well-credentialed managing director, Faisal Hasnain, only added to that mood of optimism, though given the nation's troubled recent past, it was always tempered with caution, and the post-qualifiers cleanout – as well as the drama that has followed it – was an all-too familiar outcome.

"This is not about Heath Streak and Tatenda Taibu being fired, this is a bigger thing," Streak continued.

"If you look at the collective time all the coaches who were fired have put into playing for Zimbabwe and the time we've spent coaching, it amounts to decades.

"I think the way we've been treated, the way we were fired, it just isn't right, and it's not ethical that you can treat people like that."

Australia are scheduled to play a limited-overs series in Zimbabwe in June-July, the date and details of which are still to be confirmed.

The last time an Australian side played any format in Zimbabwe was August-September 2014, as part of a tri-series also involving South Africa.