TAVENGWA Mukhulani was elected unopposed for a third term at the helm of Zimbabwe Cricket at an elective Annual General Meeting held in Bulawayo on Saturday.
The Mhondoro-Ngezi legislator’s re-election was primarily expected since most of the members of his previous board secured another tenure at the helm of their provinces.
His Vice Chairperson, Sylvester Machaka, was also elected unopposed.
Speaking to the media after the AGM, Mukhulani was elated.
“I want to thank my colleagues and provincial chairmen for once again showing confidence in me by re-electing me to lead the ZC board for another four-year term from 2023 to 2027,” he said.
“It’s a position I take with pride and honour to lead the nation.”
Mukhulani is credited with bringing ZC’s finances back into the positive after his board managed to pay its creditors around USD million, a debt that had threatened to exterminate the existence of ZC as an organisation.
“We have just presented our 2022 to 23 results to the AGM,” Mukuhlani added.
“They have given us a clean bill of health to our accounts, which were audited by one of the big four auditing firms, Price Waterhouse and Coopers.”
The elective AGM comes hard on the heels of the heartbreaking World Cup Qualifiers, which Zimbabwe hosted but failed to book a ticket to India for the cricket extravaganza.
“I must say we had a great tournament here, and it was one of the best ICC qualifying events. It goes to show our ability as a nation, as Zimbabweans, our love for the game and the appreciation of the game,” he went on.
“Sadly, we didn’t cross the line to go to India, but you agree that it was one of the most memorable events we witnessed.
“After that, we had the ZimAfro T-10 tournament, which is the first of its kind in Africa, and it was a great tournament. We are looking forward to the next edition next year. You will appreciate that T10 is a private event. We are forging these partnerships with private players to develop the game and reposition Zimbabwe Cricket once again.”
One of the most significant coup by the board in the just-ended cycle was their ability to convince England Cricket Board to resume bilateral cricket tours with Zimbabwe set to tour England in 2025 for a one-off Test at Lord’s.
“We have managed to network with the community of cricket. On bilateral cricket 2025, we are going to England after so many years. That goes to show how we have been working behind the scenes to ensure that we re-engage and become a credible player on the international scene,” he said.
“The last four years have been exciting. We have won bids to host the 2027 World Cup with South Africa. We will host the under 19 World Cup together with Namibia.”
