Call me racist or whatever ...

[jonbrooks]

But I firmly believe Zimbabwe would have had a much better chance at the WC if their players were picked on ability instead of race.

 

[Athlai]

I'm shocked to see an unfavourable opinion regarding the political climate of Zimbabwe. Absolutely shocked.

 

[hendrix]

99% of the time that preface comes before something racist. I genuinely have no idea why you used it on this particular occasion.

 

[jonbrooks]

99% of the time that preface comes before something racist. I genuinely have no idea why you used it on this particular occasion.

Well, some might feel that the blacks in the Zimbabwe team are there on merit.

 

[Flem274*]

have to admit i was dubious before opening this thread.

 

[hendrix]

Well, some might feel that the blacks in the Zimbabwe team are there on merit.

uhhh why don't you just talk about who should be in the team and who shouldn't be?

Can we do that please?

Because sentences like that, even with the proviso that they're true (I have no idea whether or not they are true) do indeed sound damn racist.

 

[Pratters]

But I firmly believe Zimbabwe would have had a much better chance at the WC if their players were picked on ability instead of race.

Can you go into details on why you believe this given that you firmly believe it?

 

[morgieb]

The thing is I do think they actually pick on ability now. It's just that most people who had the chance to leave the country did, and these were monolithically white.

 

[Pratters]

There is such a small player base in Zimbabwe now, it would take a lot of effort to try and discriminate, you would think.

 

[SuperMurali]

so which good players can the OP name that have been excluded due to race in the current Zimbo team?

 

[Prince EWS]

There are many institutional problems within the setup of ZC. Some of them, like it or not, are race-related.

However, and I say this as a keen follower of Zimbabwean domestic cricket and as someone deeply opposed to 'affirmative action' and quotas, there was nothing racist about the squad selection for the World Cup or the team selection yesterday.

If you're going to make a claim like that then you have to be much more specific about which players you think should've been selected instead.

 

[Athlai]

There are many institutional problems within the setup of ZC. Some of them, like it or not, are race-related.

However, and I say this as a keen follower of Zimbabwean domestic cricket and as someone deeply opposed to 'affirmative action' and quotas, there was nothing racist about the squad selection for the World Cup or the team selection yesterday.

If you're going to make a claim like that then you have to be much more specific about which players you think should've been selected instead.

Yeah an argument could certainly be made for how this has sculpted Zimbabwe cricket overall, but from the current crop of players no one has been unjustly left out.

 

[Smudge]

Well, some might feel that the blacks in the Zimbabwe team are there on merit.

Are you suggesting none of them are there on merit? Seems like a sweeping generalisation to me. Which is appropriate for this thread, I suppose.

 

[jonbrooks]

If you're going to make a claim like that then you have to be much more specific about which players you think should've been selected instead.

Well you've just created a bit of a strawman here, haven't you? You're asking me to pick the white players who would have been chosen over the black players but the reality is all the good white crickets are being persecuted and don't get to play FC cricket. Furthermore most of the talented white cricketers have left the country.

 

[Spark]

ah yes that devious strawman known as "exactly the question asked in the one-sentence op"

 

[Athlai]

PEWS is actually a Zimbabwean ftr.

/conspiracy
/butseriouslyheis

 

[jonbrooks]

ah yes that devious strawman known as "exactly the question asked in the one-sentence op"

You're not making any sense ...

 

[Prince EWS]

Well you've just created a bit of a strawman here, haven't you?

No; you've shifted the goalposts. You were specifically referring to selection in this thread; not structural problems that I agree exist.

if their players were picked on ability instead of race

If you're going to make a claim that their selection was wrong/biased, which -- regardless of whether you go on to deny it by shifting the goalposts again after this post -- is exactly what you did in the opening post, you should have examples of their poor selection.

The national selections absolutely did pick players on ability, not race. There are race-related problems with their structure -- absolutely. But you've claimed they weren't picking based on merit. I actually believe this was true at times in the past but it is categorically false at the moment.

 

[NUFAN]

I don't even know which Zim guys are black and which are white.

#innerbeauty
#spreadsheetsnoteyes


:P

 

[Prince EWS]

PEWS is actually a Zimbabwean ftr.

/conspiracy
/butseriouslyheis

I should've been picked ahead of Kamungozi obviously.