Zimpapers Logo

Mehluli Sibanda Senior Sports Reporter

AUSTERITY measures at Zimbabwe Cricket, which will see employees take a significant salary cut, have been necessitated by the US$$4 million cut in funding from the International Cricket Council to ZC that came into effect in November last year.

ZC have had their annual allocation from the ICC slashed from US$$9 million to US$5 million. Tavengwa Mukuhlani, the ZC chairman, said despite the ICC effecting the changes last year, they did not do the same as they still paid their employees normal salaries so as to cushion the members of staff.

He indicated that once ICC reinstate the full funding later on this year, ZC will do the same with the salaries of their employees.

“The distribution has been reduced from US$9 million to US$5 million from September 2019 to October 2020 but ZC has started to effect the changes now, this was done to cushion employees. Once normal distribution resumes, salaries will be adjusted again,’’ Mukuhlani said.

With Zimbabwe having a jam-packed Future Tours Programme for 2020, Mukuhlani stated that they had to engage in these tough actions to be able to fulfil their obligations and have the game played.

“ZC has a packed FTP for the first time in a long time so we had to take the cautionary measures now in order to avoid cancelling tours as has been witnessed with Ireland lately. This is purely a cautionary measure.”

On top of the pay cuts, ZC will have all non-profitable home tours not being televised but transmission of these matches will be done over the internet. To cut on costs, ZC will not engage in any home tour that does not generate any funds and there will be a lot of activity for the A team on the domestic front and for the soon to be introduced Zimbabwe Academy.

“Further to the salary cuts all lose making home tours will be live streamed and more Test matches will be played away from home. Any bilateral tours without context won’t be played instead more emphasis will be given to A side, domestic and ZC Academy which will be introduced soon,’’ said Mukuhlani.

Zimbabwe recently hosted Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series, with the visit by the Asian team likely to have left a big hole on the ZC finances. A saving was, however, made since the matches were live streamed and not televised. This month, Zimbabwe head off to Bangladesh for one Test, three One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals.