Late last year, the great Zimbabwean hope, young Tatenda Taibu, quit as skipper following a players’ rebellion, and said, “If nothing is done quickly, cricket in Zimbabwe will die within a year.”

Enter October 2006, and Taibu’s words echoed around the near-empty Motera stadium here. In a horrendous batting display, Zimbabwe lost to West Indies by nine wickets after they were skittled out for 85 runs in 30.1 overs, putting a question mark over their very presence in international cricket.

They failed miserably in all the departments of the game — batsmen failed to apply themselves, they dropped catches and their bowlers were never in the game. So what does a defeat of this nature — in the second qualifier — mean for Zimbabwe cricket? “It’s demoralising and a big disappointment for the players. But we will try to put in our best effort in the matches to come,” mumbled Zimbabwe skipper, Prosper Utseya.

It’s the seventh consecutive match that Zimbabwe have lost in the Champions Trophy since 2004. And though they have won eight out of 20 matches this year, those have come against Kenya and Bangladesh. From today’s evidence, gone are the days when Zimbabwe had it in them to topple any team on their day — ask Team India of World Cup 1999. But of course, those were the days of the miserly Heath Streak, the rock-steady Andy Flower and the colourful Mpumelelo Mbangwa.

The big players quit after a tussle with the administration, the new ones were too raw for international cricket. No wonder that just before this Champions Trophy, they were humiliated by the South Africans, and earlier by Lara’s men in the Caribbean.

... contd.