The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
EIGHT coaches, one Zimbabwean as well as seven foreigners are vying for the vacant Zimbabwe senior national cricket team’s position with interviews to be conducted in Harare on Wednesday.
Information obtained on Tuesday indicates that of the seven foreigners, three are South Africans, two British nationals, one Indian and one Australian have set their sights on coaching Zimbabwe.
Former Zimbabwean pace bowler Douglas Hondo is the only Zimbabwean who is gunning for the post. Former national team fitness trainer Sean Bell, the other Zimbabwean who had been shortlisted for the interviews is said to have withdrawn from the process after informing Industrial Psychology Consultants, the agency that is handling the recruitment process on behalf of ZC that he was not qualified for the job.
South African Lance Klusener, a member of the Heath Streak led technical team that was sacked in April is one of those to be interviewed. Klusener, an all rounder during his playing days was the batting coach for the Chevrons under Streak. Former Highveld Lions coach Geoffrey Toyana, who stepped down from his post early has ambitions of coaching Zimbabwe together with fellow South African Anton Roux.
Indian, Lalchand Rajput, who has been engaged on an interim basis from 1 June to 31 August will also get an opportunity to impress a panel from ZC as well as IPC and show that he deserves the job on a fulltime basis. Rajput will be interim coach when Zimbabwe take on Australia and Pakistan in a triangular Twenty20 series in Harare early next month before the Chevrons collide with the Pakistanis in five One Day Internationals in Bulawayo from 13 to 22 July.
Britons Colin Siller and Andy Moles as well as Australian Nathan Dodd are the other coaches who are being interviewed.
The Chevrons head coach’s position fell vacant after ZC fired the Streak led technical team following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the 2019 International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup during the Qualifier held in Zimbabwe in March.
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