TALENTED right-hand batsman Wesley Madhevere and spinner Brandon Mavuta have been suspended from all cricket activities by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) for taking recreational drugs.
The pair tested positive for a banned recreational drug in an out-of-competition case recorded during a recent in-house doping test.
Madhevere was recently axed from the Zimbabwe One Day International (ODI) side that lost against the visiting Irish team, whilst Mavuta had a good series with both bat and ball.
There had been a lot of whispers within local cricket circles about the rampant use of recreational drugs within the team, with many saying the failure of a drug test by Garry Balance early this year was just the tip of the iceberg.
On Tuesday, ZC convened an all-stakeholders meeting to discuss the way forward after Zimbabwe’s successive failures to qualify for the ODI and T20 World Cups.
The stakeholders agreed on the high level of indiscipline within the Zimbabwe senior men’s camp, resulting in Chevron’s failure to qualify for the World Cups.
In a scathing attack on the players during the stakeholders’ meeting, ZC chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani criticised the players’ lack of effort, calling their performance “unacceptable” and “disgraceful.”
“How do you lose to Uganda when you have IPL on your side? If we are honest with ourselves, this is unacceptable,” said Mukuhlani.
“In 2019, we fired Heath Streak after he failed to qualify for the World Cup, we also fired Lalchand Rajput for poor results. The players perform poorly, knowing that the coach will be fired. The only constant has been the players; who will make them accountable for their actions?”
Judging by the tone of what was said by the various stakeholders, ZC will be descending hard on all the players who lack discipline and bring the game of cricket into disrepute.
Madhevere and Mavuta will be given the right to defend themselves through a hearing for allegedly breaching anti-doping rules. They have been charged under the ZC Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials.
