Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on Monday announced the squad to take on Afghanistan in white ball series.
The two will play three One Day Internationals and as many T-20s in Harare starting today.
The composition of the squad triggered debate particularly the omission of two exciting young batsmen Nick Welch and Jonathan Campbell.
Both have been doing well in domestic cricket but were left out of the home series against Pakistan where Zimbabwe lost both the ODI and T-20 series 2-1.
Zimbabwe plummeted to their lowest T-20 scores and lost by 10 wickets in the second T-20 and even though they rallied back to win the dead rubber, such a performance calls for wholesome changes.
There were some changes in the squad for the Afghanistan series with Ben Curran thrust in line for a debut to follow in the footsteps of his late father Kevin.
But the selectors' decision to ignore Welch and Campbell's exploits have come as a surprise.
There have been social media debate which, unfortunately, bordered on racial lines.
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We cannot countenance the selection of players on racial lines.
The problem is that ZC does not bother to explain some of these decisions.
Why not organise a media session with the chief selectors so that they explain themselves and probably the fans will understand the rationale behind some of their decisions?
Bulawayo mayor David Coltart, a die-hard cricket fan, questioned why ZC did not bother to explain to stakeholders such crucial decisions.
“These and several others let it be said, selections remain inexplicable. I will let the selectors of ZC explain and justify themselves. They must realise they have a duty to explain themselves. The selectors are in a position of national responsibility and are answerable to the cricket-loving public of Zimbabwe. They may have justifiable reasons why they have made the selections they have, but they have a duty to express them so that the public knows that they have made their decisions solely on the grounds of cricket logic, not other considerations,” Coltart wrote on his X handle.
We can't agree more with the former sports minister.
It's not enough for a national organisation like ZC to select a national team and only post on its social media pages without enlightening the public on the logic behind the selection.
There is a need for an explanation moreso, when you have a young man putting up his hand with a batting average of 40 in domestic cricket but failing to make the cut in a team having batting problems.
We have the upcoming T-20 World Cup qualifiers and this can't be the time for experiments.
Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the last World Cup with Uganda and Namibia taking the two slots and we need to be putting our best foot forward.
ZC selectors should give everyone a fair shot and more importantly, they need to explain such important national decisions.
That obviates unfortunate discussions and also avoids unnecessary allegations.
