Zimbabwe Cricket directors to be reinstated following court order

HARARE: Following a court order, Zimbabwe’s Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has reversed its suspension of Zimbabwe Cricket’s original directors and dissolved the interim committee that had been put in place to run cricket in the country. The ruling also comes in the wake of ICC’s letter to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on July 24 directing them to “unconditionally” reinstate the ousted board or risk termination of their membership.

“Accordingly, and pursuant to the said court order, the SRC hereby lifts the suspension of the directors of ZC, including that of the acting managing director [Givemore Makoni], with immediate effect,” read a statement released by the SRC on Thursday.

“The interim committee accordingly ceases to administer the affairs of Zimbabwe Cricket forthwith.”

The suspended ZC board had appealed the SRC’s original sanction at an administrative court in June. The appeal was initially dismissed, but ZC re-launched their appeal and the matter remained sub judice, even as the ICC moved to suspend Zimbabwe’s membership last month.

Both the SRC and the interim committee, headed by former ZC chairman Dave Ellman-Brown, had been under significant pressure since the ICC’s suspension.

The move is in compliance with the ICC’s order to reinstate chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani and his board but it has come too late to save the participation of the two senior sides at the T20 World Cup qalifiers.

The women’s side have already been replaced by Namibia, while the ICC announced Tuesday that Nigeria would take their spot in the men’s qualifiers.