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While the past few years have seen Bermuda's cricketing fortunes pursue a relentlessly upward trajectory, Zimbabwe’s have been in freefall.

The Africans will start as slight favourites when the two teams meet in Port of Spain tomorrow.

But the fact that Bermuda, participating in its first ever one-day internationals, can consider itself near equals with its opponents, veterans of six World Cups, is testimony to how the political strife in Zimbabwe has affected the fortunes of its cricketers.

They are a ramshackle team of talented youngsters and journeyman club cricketers, that CricInfo editor Martin Williamson believes would struggle to match up to an English county second XI, will take to the field tomorrow.

They are essentially all that is left of Zimbabwe cricket.

The golden generation of the nineties that included Andy Flower, at one time rated the best batsman in the world, all-rounder Heath Streak and stylish opener Murray Goodwin, is largely in exile.

The domestic cricket structure has fallen apart and the cricket board has been blighted by its association with Robert Mugabe's oppressive political regime.

Any talented players that emerge from the remnants of the Zimbabwe cricket scene are reluctant to sign contracts with the board, which has been accused of withholding wages, gross financial mismanagement and corruption, and instead pursue club cricket careers in England and elsewhere.

Many thought that Zimbabwean cricket had reached its nadir when captain Flower and fast-bowler Henry Olonga were sacked from the team and forced to seek asylum in England, following death threats to them and their families, allegedly from within the Zimbabwean cricket board.

Their crime was to wear black armbands during Zimbabwe's World Cup matches, when the competition was co-hosted by the country in 2003.

Williamson, whose Cricinfo website is the largest and most authoritative source for fans of the sport, with seven million users a month explained: “The reason that came about was that a number of players in the side felt very deeply that the human rights abuses of the Mugabe regime did not fit comfortably with the fact that the world was over there playing cricket.

“They objected to the International Cricket Council (ICC) glossing over it. They weren't going to withdraw from the competition so they wore black armbands to signal the death of democracy in their country.

“They were openly threatened by people who are still running the game.”

As it turned out that was just the beginning of an exodus of talent that has seen Zimbabwe cricket disintegrate to the point where few support its right to sit at the sport's top table.

Heath Streak, who replaced Flower as captain, was sacked in 2004 prompting a walkout by 14 other players in protest at the increasing politicization of the Zimbabwe cricket board.

Streak, the best bowler ever to play for Zimbabwe and still its top wicket-taker, was reinstated in '05 has since quit the team to concentrate on captaining Warwickshire in the English county leagues.

His successor as captain Tatenda Taibu, a talented young wicket-keeper batsman was the next casualty of the now highly political Zimbabwean cricket board, chaired by the controversial Peter Chingonka, a renowned Mugabe acolyte.

In November last year Taibu held a press conference, on behalf of 74 players, in which he denounced the management of Zimbabwe cricket and protested that the players had not been paid.

In a familiar pattern of events threats to his family followed and he ended his international career and has since left the country to play club cricket in Surrey, England.

The high-profile defections are symptomatic of a wider trend of talented cricketers flowing out of Zimbabwe.

According to Williamson, the reasons are as much financial as they are political.

“Some players have taken a principled stand and refused to play, others have left because they can earn more money overseas.”

In all, he estimates, that at least two teams worth of international standard cricketers have left the country.

“The whole thing is in freefall. The side we've seen in Trinidad this past week (losing 5-0 in a one-day series to the West Indies) is essentially all they can put out.”

None of the players that turn out for Zimbabwe this week have explicitly supported the Mugabe regime.

Why they play, and, paradoxically why the best players leave has as much to do with the financial reality of living in Mugabe's Zimbabwe than it does with their political affiliations.

“You've got massive unemployment, inflation running at 1,000 per cent. They're not endorsing anything that's going on they've got to play cricket and they've got to earn a crust.”

Similarly those that reach a certain level are reluctant to sign contracts with the board when they can earn more in club cricket overseas. But there are significant political undertones to the disintegration of Zimbabwean cricket and financial corruption is believed to be rife.

According to Williamson the Zimbabwe Cricket Board receives around $5million each year in ICC funding, even though the country is temporarily under a self-imposed suspension from Test cricket.

“The players weren't receiving gas allowances, they weren't being paid wages, yet at the same time the number of administrators had increased by 800 per cent.

“They are getting a grant of $4 or $5 million from the ICC. What are they doing with that money?”

Williamson estimates that the players are collectively owed around a quarter-of-a-million dollars.

Earlier this year, following the resignation of Taibu and Chingoka's brief arrest amid allegations of financial irregularities, the president was briefly forced out of office.

But the Government-controlled Committee for Recreation and Sport quickly took over the running of the game, dissolved the board, sacked all the white and Asian administrators and installed a new interim board with Chingoka back at the helm.

The cricket figurehead is losing support and many of the clubs have withdrawn from domestic competition, which will not run for the first time during peace -time in 100 years.

“Club cricket in Zimbabwe is disintegrating. Most of the sides have withdrawn and are trying to form a breakaway league,” added Williamson.

He said there was now no tier below the national team and unless the administrators changed the top players would not come back to the game.

What Zimbabwe is left with is the worst team in Test cricket and the worst of the full-member one-day-international teams.

As Bermuda climbs the world cricket ladder and Zimbabwe descends, the two teams are meeting somewhere in the middle.

Says Williamson: “They've clearly got an advantage over Bermuda in that they receive large amounts of ICC funding and they've got experience of playing against teams like the West Indies. Experience of getting hammered, but experience all the same.

“If Bermuda had the same experience I would say you'd beat them.

“They've got four or five who are good cricketers and some that are the worst I have ever seen.

“How well you do against Zimbabwe will give you a very good impression of where you stand. I don’t think you should necessarily expect to win but if you run them close you're doing well.”[[In-content Ad]]

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