Parting shot as Flower flies out (Sunday Times)

March 30th, 2003

Andy Flower, whose protest against the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe was one of the abiding images of the World Cup, left the country yesterday to join his wife and three children in England after issuing a scathing attack on the irresponsibility of cricket administrators who left difficult decisions to sportsmen such as England captain Nasser Hussain.

At the same time, David Morgan, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, was obliged to assure the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) at a meeting in Harare that, despite the Gulf war, their players would be “safe and secure” were they to tour England next month. The ZCU yesterday gave the tour the go-ahead, but Morgan conceded that it might have reconsidered its stance had he indicated an English unwillingness to fulfil a return tour in autumn 2004.

While the administrators grappled to sort out the mess following England’s refusal to play their World Cup match in Harare last month — a decision that could cost the English game up to £1.5m in compensation, though no request has yet been received from the International Cricket Council (ICC) — Flower spoke out at the end of a week of horrific violence against groups opposed to President Robert Mugabe.

“I respect Nasser and his team for the way they thought about the moral aspects of the whole situation,” he said. “I know that later there was umming and aahing over security issues, but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that they were willing to take a moral stand.

“I don’t think it is right that players ended up having to make that decision. It should have been taken by the people in positions of responsibility. They are supposed to make decisions for young and naive players — which is what most cricketers are.”

Flower, 34, described Zimbabwe’s qualification for the World Cup’s second phase — largely on the back of England’s forfeiture — as “hollow”. He was unimpressed by the tournament, which he said lacked “spark and energy” and never recovered from two cancelled matches. New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi, also citing safety fears, and the ICC refused to relocate either match.

Flower, who retired as a Zimbabwe international after the team’s World Cup exit, worried aloud about whether the authorities would let him leave, before joking that he would have to hide the black armband that brought so much attention.

He and teammate Henry Olonga made headlines before Zimbabwe’s first match against Namibia by issuing a statement “mourning the death of democracy in Zimbabwe” and wearing symbolic black armbands.

Olonga is in hiding in South Africa after hearing that he could be tried for treason if he returns home. Inevitably, his career as a Zimbabwe international is also over, although at 26 he should have years ahead of him. He is considering moving to England, where the Professional Cricketers’ Association yesterday added its voice to that of the international development secretary, Clare Short, by saying it would help him settle here.

Flower, who is contracted for the next three years to play for Essex, Hussain’s county, and South Australia, was critical of the Zimbabwe captain, Heath Streak, for maintaining that cricketers should not get involved in politics. Many in the team were sympathetic to Flower and Olonga — Guy Whittall has since joined them in retirement — but they attracted the displeasure of the ZCU, which has close links with the government.

“This is a time in Zimbabwe’s history when people have to make a stand,” said Flower. “I don’t understand what it’s like to be starving, to be beaten or tortured but I know that these things are going on and it’s not right. At one level I can understand his (Streak’s) position. But I think it’s a bit of a cop-out to say, ‘I can’t get involved in politics because I’m a cricketer’ — what about businessmen, what about a bricklayer? That argument is flawed. Only in an ideal world do sport and politics not mix.”

He accused those who chose to ignore politics of in effect perpetuating Mugabe’s brutal regime. “You can’t sit on the fence at times like this. Sitting on the fence is not quite as bad as condoning what is going on, but I believe that it allows the situation to go on happening.”

After their statement, Flower and Olonga were vilified in the state media for “selling out” their country. “They tried to discredit Henry and me. They said my father was a landowner and had some land taken away. My father has been an accountant all his life, and not a very wealthy one; he didn’t own various farms as they suggested and I wasn’t bitter because our land had been taken away. Look, they lie in those papers, they are government mouthpieces.

“I’m very sad to be leaving, but there’s a certain relief. The country is sliding into chaos. My family and I would like to live in a comfortable, safe environment, and things have become very tense here.”

After making the statement with Olonga, life became unnerving for them both, with neither sure what the government and its supporters were planning next. “After we made the statement, it did make you view the country and your own safety in a different way. While we got tremendous support, there were also elements that were quite nasty.”

Flower declined to detail government communications with him, but it is thought he has been the subject of intimidation.

Whether he ever returns depends on how long Mugabe survives. “Some day I would like to return. I think once we have a few changes here, this country will be a wonderful place to live again.”

While Flower takes on new challenges, including a forthcoming autobiography that is expected to tell his full story, the future of the Zimbabwe team looks bleak.

“The tour to England will really be tough,” Flower said. “There are not many youngsters coming through, and you really fear for the future of the game.”

When Zimbabwe take the field for the first Test at Lord’s on May 22, Flower will be watching rather than playing, a dissident living in exile.

Entry Filed under: Sport, Zimbabwe