Keeper of Faith: Cricket, Conflict and God in Zimbabwe's Age of Extremes

by Tatenda Taibu

‘The sad thing is you sit here and talk about that when you’ve got no idea what it takes to produce a youngster who will go out there and perform at the highest level,’ I said. ‘You sent someone to come to England and assess my academy and what did they do? They spent one day assessing. What can you assess in one day? He had a look at where the boys were staying, where we were practising, the food they were eating, the gym they were using, the facilities, and then he went to London for the rest of the weekend before heading back to Zimbabwe. Surely, he does some assessment? When he came to see me, I said, “If you do not change and start to listen to people who know the game, we are going to go the way of Kenya. Unfortunately, when you realise it will be too late.” I’m not going to continue sitting here listening to this rubbish,’ I said, finishing my tirade.