Zimbabwe Cricket Director Hamilton Masakadza resigns after T20 World Cup qualification failure

Hamilton-Masakadza. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Hamilton Masakadza has resigned as Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) Director of Cricket this week. The former Zimbabwe captain took on the role of Director of Cricket shortly after retiring from all cricket formats in October 2019.

He quoted that the primary reason for his decision to step down from the role is that Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 which is scheduled to be co-hosted by the United States of America and West Indies as the main reason for his decision to step down. Prior to this, Zimbabwe also failed to qualify for the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup in India, despite hosting the qualifying tournament in June of last year. Notably, these failures in World Cup qualification led to the resignation of head coach Dave Houghton.

“This decision has come about after careful consideration of the successes and failures of our cricket and my responsibilities. As much as there has been a lot of progress in my tenure, the fact remains that we are the only Full Member nation not participating at the next T20 World Cup after our shock loss to Uganda. This was indeed one of the lowest points of my career and I take full responsibility as Director of Cricket,” Masakadza said in his resignation letter as per Zimbabwe Cricket.

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Remarking on Masakadza’s decision, ZC Managing Director Givemore Makoni said: “Hamilton’s status as a cricket legend is not in doubt and we are indebted to him for his immense contributions to the sport, on and off the field. After calling time on his playing career, he gave his all trying to ensure ZC has the foundations in place to identify, develop and prepare the next generation of players.
 
“As he leaves his current role, as an organisation we take great satisfaction in knowing that, despite some crucial results not going our way, Zimbabwe teams and our cricket in general have made significant progress under his watch. I hope the game will continue benefiting from his knowledge and expertise.”

During his four-year tenure as Director of Cricket, Masakadza guided Zimbabwe to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Under his oversight, ZC introduced several new tournaments aimed at enhancing the game’s standards in the country, including the National Premier League and the Zim Afro T10 league for men, along with two women’s provincial competitions- the Fifty50 Challenge and the Women’s T20 Cup. Additionally, he successfully oversaw the organization of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Zimbabwe.

Also read: India to play five T20Is in Zimbabwe in July

He departs at a time when he was actively involved in preparations for the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027, which Zimbabwe is set to co-host. He expressed a willingness to remain engaged to aid in delivering these events.
 
“This decision was a very difficult one to make and I remain fully committed to Zimbabwe Cricket and would very much be interested in serving in a different capacity as the organisation looks forward to hosting the Men’s Under-19 World Cup in 2026 and the Men’s 50-over World Cup in 2027,” the former cricketer said.