Zimbabwe Cricket Team Proves Winning Isn’t Everything

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By Charles Ray, US Ambassador to Zimbabwe

19 March 2011

After a five-year voluntary absence from Test Cricket, Zimbabwe’s national team goes up against a seasoned line-up in the World Cup matches in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. Despite not winning, they still came away “winners” because of the spirit of their play and the fire in their bellies to prove themselves.

The late Vince Lombardi, famous winning coach of the Green Bay Packers and coach for the Washington Redskins, once said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”  Now, I have the greatest respect for Lombardi; in my opinion one of the greatest football coaches who ever lived; but, I have to take exception to that statement.  In sport, and in the game of life, sometimes it’s as important how you lose as how you win.

Take the Zimbabwe national cricket team, for instance.  Returning to top level cricket for the first time in five years recently in Cricket World Cup matches against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Pakistan they lost, but one has to label this valiant young team a bunch winners nevertheless.  These young men went up against teams with outstanding records; and more significantly, with five years of test match experience that they lost out on; and they still hung in there.  As Zimbabwe’s minister of education, sports, art and culture David Coltart said, “One only has to look at the way Bangladesh has performed to see that we have not disgraced ourselves – in fact our run rate is the best outside the 8 test nations who have qualified for the quarters.”

The quality of the team’s play was first rate; it was just they were matched against teams with more experience.  I had the opportunity to meet with the team just before their departure for the matches, and I was impressed with the fighting spirit they displayed.  As I said to them in the pep talk I gave them, “winning is more than just scoring points.  The team that posts the most runs will win the match, but the team that hangs in there, even when the odds are against them, and when no one thinks they can win, will be the real winner in the long run.”  They apparently took my words to heart, because they hung in despite the long odds against them.

Zimbabwe voluntarily withdrew from Test cricket in 2006 after a controversy between the team’s senior players and management, greatly weakening the team.  Plans to return to Test play last year were cancelled when the New Zealand team refused to come to Zimbabwe, citing security concerns.  Those matches would have given the inexperienced young team some much needed blooding before their journey to the World Cup matches.  Some of the senior players, including Grant Flower and Ray Price, returned to the squad, and Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute believes that the team will emerge stronger in the end.

Like the ‘Little Engine That Could.” Zimbabwe’s team will be winners in the end – just wait and see.