Equipment, sponsorship and politics
Who would have thought that a simple plea for sponsorship could lead to bad consequences for a player?
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Not a lot of people outside of Zimbabwe will have heard of Brian Mudzinganyama. I only heard of him because Angelo Mathews remembers him.
Mathews does not remember him for his great batting. The 26-year-old only managed 16 runs from 62 balls on his debut in 2020 after he came on as a concussion sub for Kevin Kasuza who had been struck on the helmet while fielding at short-leg. What Mathews remembers him for is the state of his batting gloves. They are not the kind of gloves one expects an international player to practice in, much less wear to an international match.
So, after the match, where he scored his double ton, Mathews pulled the young man aside and gave him a pair of brand new batting gloves. That's the kind of person Angelo is, he likes to help out and give back to the sport that has given him so much.
"We all need to share what we have with others, and if I can help someone in any way and put a smile on that person's face, that makes me happier than anything else," says Angelo.
Though Mathews did not grow up facing the struggle of getting the right and sufficient batting gear, he empathizes with those that lack. It is a struggle he deeply understands. His father runs an academy, Mathews' Cricket Academy, and it is here where he has witnessed many youngsters with big dreams but without gear. He understands how much of a handicap that can be. So, he donates stuff every time he can. Mudzinganyama reminded him of the many he has seen in Sri Lanka.
Mudzinganyama's case is not an isolated one. These are things that no one talks about publicly, but I understand that Zimbabwean players who ply their trade in the local league look forward to tours against richer countries.
That will be "heaven", because players from richer countries are often moved by the state of the players so much so that they leave everything from spikes to bats, gloves and pads to Zimbabwean players. We don't hear these stories because the players keep them to themselves and those close to them.
Recently, Ryan Burl, another Zimbabwe international, made a plea for sponsorship on Twitter. The 29-year-old was brave enough to put himself out there, risking his international career in the process, I am told. According to a few people whom I approached after seeing Burl's tweets, the "powers that be" might see this as a move to embarrass the organization. And even though it defeats all logic, there are whisperings within ZC that maybe Burl did this on purpose, and colluded with Puma to embarrass the organization.
"They will reprimand him and inform him that he should have been more discreet, if he is lucky," one told me.
I thought he was being a little dramatic. The young man had done nothing wrong in my eyes. But it turns out that I was the one who did not understand how things work. A few hours later I saw tweets reporting that the talk in certain groups was pushing for Burl to be given a warning or punishment of sorts. This is despite the fact that Burl did manage to secure Puma sponsorship. Apparently keeping up appearances is far much more important to players’ welfare.
"Don't be surprised to see Burl being dropped for the next series."
The picture that has been painted for me is scary. There are stories of players having their participation in foreign leagues being cut short because someone at the top just wants to teach the player a lesson because they did not show the right level of respect in a WhatsApp group. Then there is a story of a senior official telling a player not to complain about anything, apparently, he told the player, "I feed your family, shut up. If it wasn't for me your family would starve."
It's a lot to take in and to top it off, no one wants to go on record with such stuff, even friends want to speak on condition of anonymity, just in case. I think they would need a sort of witness protection program to be able to speak freely. Everyone is afraid of a reprisal of sorts. So I can write about faceless people with huge struggles... That makes it difficult for others to check for veracity.
And even if it's true, I still don't understand why or how Burl would deserve punishment. And when one considers the stories that I have heard of players lacking gear, I would have thought that the organization would be happy that these players are taking thinking outside the box and doing something for themselves, so that they can perform better for their country. At the end of the day, one cannot expect a poorly kitted player to perform at the best of their abilities. Having the right gear is vital to performing well.
I mean, think of it in this way, you really wouldn't expect a carpenter with a bad set of tools to do a very good job, do you? I mean, besides skill/ability, you need the right tools to help you do what you do to the best of your abilities.
Surely no one expects a player who is worried about gear to perform at their best? Give Steve Smith worn-out batting gloves and see if he will bat as well as he does with his proper kit. Anyway, it is possible that this talented young man did not do so well on debut. Of course, it is ridiculous to assume that he would have made a ton, but with better kit - decent bats, gloves and shoes - I expect he would have done a little better because he would have had less to worry about and would have been able to focus on the batting. Just that.
Anyway, I hope my sources of information are wrong. I hope they are overreacting or have overactive imaginations. I hope the chatter that they are witnessing in various WhatsApp groups is just that, idle chatter with no consequence because This is not the state of cricket anyone wants to witness. But if they are right, I hope the cricket universe has more players like Angelo Mathews and richer countries tour places like Zimbabwe, because players like Burl and Mudzinganyama need them the most. They can help them with gear without the players having to make a public appeal that might eventually cut short their international careers.
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