As announced on Monday, March 19, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's Board of Control has unanimously agreed to launch an aggressive campaign to eliminate racial discrimination within cricket at all levels.

The first step in this campaign is the formation of an 10 man Integration Task Force which has been given the Board's mandate to ensure the full and equitable integration of Zimbabwean cricket in the shortest possible time with the least possible reduction in individual and team performance.

The approach that will be taken by the Integration Task Force can best be described as one of "rapid evolution", i.e., working proactively and transparently, in a focused, systematic manner to ensure that every major aspect of Zimbabwean cricket is, in fact, fully and equitably integrated as quickly as possible.

The initial 3-day meeting of the Integration Task Force will take place within the coming two weeks. During that meeting Task Force members are expected to agree upon and commit to integration targets to be achieved by no later than January 1, 2005, as well as milestones to be reached by January 1, 2002 and prior to the World Cup to be hosted by southern Africa in 2003.

The 10 members of the Integration Task Force were purposely selected to provide a broad mix of racial concerns, competence and experience and includes:

Stephen Mangongo: Coach at Winstonians and active in the development of cricket in the high density areas
Mac Dudhia: Vice Chairman for Mashonaland, national selector and ICC representative for development
Terry Nicolle: Chairman of Matabeleland Districts and member of the Coaching Committee
Dawson Mutsekwa: Development manager and ZCU administrator
Max Ebrahim: Club chairman for Universal and Convenor for Mashonaland selectors.
Rick Pettipher: Headmaster, Bryden Country School, and member of the Junior Cricket Committee.
Andrew Whittall: A former national player, now responsible for marketing of Zimbabwean cricket internationally
Gwynne Jones: Director of the CFX Cricket Academy, who will be serving as Coordinator for the activities of the Integration Task Force
Nicklaus Singo: Member of the Coaching Committee and a coach in Matabeleland
Dr. R.E. Zackrison: Founder and Senior Consultant with Effectiveness Consultants International, who will serve as the overall Coordinator of this integration effort.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the following individuals are unable to serve as full time Task Force members. However, because of their extensive experience, both have been asked to serve as adjunct members of the Task Force and will be provided with ample opportunity to offer their input into discussions prior to decisions being made:

Ian Butchart: A former player and Convenor of National Selectors
Clive Barnes: Headmaster at Prince Edward School and an avid proponent of integration of cricket at all levels.

The Integration Task Force has been fully empowered to form sub-task groups to deal with issues in specific areas, e.g., development, selection, etc. In addition, a "Consultative Resource Team" has been appointed to serve as a "sounding board" to the Integration Task Force and to provide expert advice when relevant. The members of the Consultative Resource Team include:

Peter Chingoka: ZCU's President
David Ellman-Brown: ZCU's Chief Executive
Heath Streak: Captain of the National side
Paul Taylor: Senior Consultant with Price Waterhouse
Alice Zinyemba: Co-Founder of and Senior Consultant with Effectiveness Consultants - Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWE CRICKET UNION
26 MARCH 2001

© Zimbabwe Cricket Union