ZIMBABWE senior men’s team head coach, Dave Houghton tendered his resignation with immediate effect as the pressure of losing to associate sides in recent games took its toll on the former Test captain.
Houghton took over the reins from Lalchand Rajput in June last year ahead of the T20 World Cup Qualifier. He brought some optimism into the side qualifying for the T20 World Cup played in Australia as the players played with freedom and an exciting brand of cricket.
However, the team missed out on a semifinal berth in Adelaide having made it into the Super 6 stage and with that subsequently missing out on an automatic entry at next year’s T20 World Cup set to be co-hosted by West Indies and USA.
The Chevrons were relegated to the Africa Region Qualifiers to try and qualify for the expanded 20-team World Cup but failed dismally after following defeats against Namibia and Uganda in Windhoek. Prior to that the team had also missed out on the 2023 World Cup played in India after going down to Sri Lanka and Scotland at Queens Sports Club during the 50 overs World Cup Qualifiers played in Harare and Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe also lost the home series to Ireland, 2-1 and 2-0 in the respective T20 and ODI games at Harare Sports Club recently.
Houghton, according to ZC Tendered his resignation on the eve of today's (Wednesday) board meeting having attended the consultative meeting at Harare Sports Club earmarked at finding answers to the association’s waning fortunes on the men’s cricket side of things.
“I have always had Zimbabwe cricket at heart and, though my coaching of the national team comes to an end, I would love to be involved in other areas,”Houghton said in his resignation.
“The talent base in Zimbabwe is enormous. How we move players from talented to performing well on the international stage is a great project to be involved in.”
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In a statement yesterday, ZC chairperson Tavengwa Mukuhlani said Houghton who is part of the national team selection panel will remain with the association as the board looks to re-sign him to a new role within the organization.
“Dave will always be a legend of our game and it is with regret that he felt the change room needed a new voice,” Mukuhlani said.
“While the past few months have been disappointing as we failed to qualify for both the 50-over World Cup and the T20 World Cup, they should not obscure all the work he has done over the past year to rebuild the foundations for long-term success.
“Dave leaves the team with our sincerest thanks for his tireless efforts and we are looking forward to working with him in a different role as we seek to change our on-field fortunes.”
The statement added that an interim technical team will be announced soon to take charge of the team’s limited overs series in Sri Lanka set for early next year while also a three-member committee was appointed during yesterday’s board meeting to look into the failed T20 World Cup campaign.
Lloyd Mhishi, the board’s legal mind, leads the team that also has Godfrey Nyadongo and Blessing Ngondo.
