Zimbabwe cricket was reduced to anarchy for 15 minutes last Sunday at Mutare Sports Club by cricketers from the Harare team Takashinga. In a day of infamy a batsman refused to leave the crease on being given out - swore viciously at an umpire, accused him of cheating - then kicked and bat-swiped a set of stumps to the ground.

This national first league decider was always going to be a fiery encounter, but few would have predicted farce on such scale. As the visitors bristled onto the ground to inspect the pitch shortly after arrival that morning, they were allegedly heard by ground staff to say, "Don't greet anyone; umpire Barbour is going to cheat us today."

25 overs into the match the powder keg blew when umpire Alan Walsh adjudged Gift Makoni LBW after stepping across his stumps. As the Manicaland players retreated to one side of the pitch to sit and wait for order, the inconsolable Makoni stamped, raged and circled the pitch for seven minutes. From the verandah Takashinga manager Mr Elvis swore and shouted at the umpires, "We didn't drive all this way to be cheated." Test umpire Kevan Barbour's attempted reasoning enraged Makoni further, ending with him scooping up the remaining stumps and removing them from the field.

Protracted discussions and the prospect of forfeiture finally saw Takashinga resume their innings. It could be argued that in a normal society the game had long since been conceded. Any refusal to play constitutes a concession. The umpires have sent a report to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union disciplinary committee and cricket followers await their findings with interest.

What cannot be denied is that Takashinga greatly embarrassed all spectators – including uniformed school kids from Dangamvura and Mutare Boys High - who arrived in numbers to watch the biggest match of the season. Spectators had driven from as far as Odzi and Nyazura – enduring an hour-long delay at the Christmas-pass roadblock for a chance to watch Test stars Flower, Campbell and Whittall turn out for Mutare. In the end the spectators were disappointed as Mutare crushed the opposition by nine wickets without needing the big names. Justin Lewis (10-2-46-5) destroyed the top order and again proved how useful he would have been at the Under-19 World Cup.

Doubly embarrassing for the ZCU is that most of the Takashinga side have come through the system under its patronage. Makoni is a member of the Mashonaland Cricket Association whilst three other players are Academy-trained coaches. Most of the rest have received scholarships to cricket schools like Churchill -including captain Rangarirai Manyande.

There have been warning signs for years that Churchill's cricketers are out of control. They intimidate umpires, refuse to walk and generally run circles around their hapless teacher-coaches. Unlike their counterparts who play mostly for fun, Churchill's kids play for future contracts. The fault lies with the ZCU for leaving them on their own to miraculously learn 150 years of cricket civilization. The future of ZCU-choreographed cricket was on display at Mutare Sports Club and despair was everywhere.

A step in the right direction might be to employ a high profile role model – perhaps a West Indian – to play and cultivate acceptable standards at Takashinga. Andy Flower reports that in three years of intermittent captaincy he never experienced bad behaviour at the club. These days all sides dread playing them - a string of unpunished reports mark their files - whilst official paralysis increasingly emboldens them.

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