"I love anything that's connected with the game"

VIJAY LOKAPALLY

DAVE HOUGHTON'S face lights up when he sees the Zimbabwean team coming out for the second Test. It has been a long journey for the team and Houghton takes pride in the fact that he was one of the main actors in helping Zimbabwe attain Test status. He led Zimbabwe in its debut Test in 1992 and toiled to guide the young men around him before leaving the stage as a player.

Having given up cricket, Houghton had plenty of options but he chose to stick to the game. His experience of coaching came in handy and he took up the task of setting up a National academy to turn out commited cricketers in the next five years or so.

Houghton enjoys commentating too. "I love anything that's connected with the game," he says.

In this interview to The Sportstar at the Harare Sports Club, Houghton talks of his plans and the state of Zimbabwean cricket.

Question: How do you look at Zimbabwe cricket?

Answer: I think we're getting stronger. We're in a transition period at the moment. Transition from amateur to professional status throughout. The administrative structure of the game is getting more and more professional. It's going to take time to change and it's not going to change. I think it's changing for the better overnight. Our structure below is getting stronger. Our administration at the Board level is getting stronger. So, I think the next 10 years is going to be progressive for Zimbabwe and I'm quite excited about it.

Is it lack of talent or finances that has hindered the progress over the last so many years?

I don't think it's ever been lack of talent. The talent has always been around. We've been restricted by finance. It's only from last year that we've started getting some decent revenue from TV rights or so. We can now afford to make changes. It's always been the chicken and egg situation. We needed money to create a better team and a better team to create money. So, we've been going around in circles. We've started to get to a situation where the team has started to win a couple of Test matches and a few one-day games. That's created the platform for the TV companies to come and film the matches. That of course brings in the revenues. We've got to the stage where the finance is there. The talent is around. It's just a matter of getting the cricket infrastructure below the National team in the right place. With the birth of the academy and the first-class structure in the last two years those positions are in the right place now. I just see the game of cricket in this country booming over the next 10 years.

Why has Zimbabwe not yet achieved its potential? The team still loses a lot from winning positions...

Winning is a habit and losing is a habit. And you can get into one quite easily. I think because we've been a side which hasn't won consistently we doubt ourselves when we get into winning positions. It's really happening to us. We haven't got that mentality yet because we haven't won many games. We have to start winning more and more. We often get ourselves into trouble without the opposition doing much. We make the mistakes ourselves and put ourselves into bad patches. The confidence suffers. We're very inconsistent. I think all this is brought about by the fact that most of our players don't have the experience of first-class cricket. They actually should be learning all this at the first-class level. So when your national team gets together these things should be out of your minds completely. A lot of the guys here have learnt about Test cricket only when playing Test cricket. They've no first-class experience. Also if they are a bit out of form and get dropped from the side there's no place for them to go and try and play in a strong competition in order to get back into the team.

What progress have you made in the domestic front?

We got six sides now playing first-class cricket. But the standard is quite weak at the moment. The nice part of it is that the sides are mostly young and the average age is something like 21. If you look at five years ahead we're going to have a strong first-class competition and some experienced cricketers as well. That'll help. At the moment, it's tough. The players who are not involved on the field have nothing to do. No cricket for them. If you leave someone from this team for lack of form his replacement will come in having played no cricket for two months. These are things the ZCU and the cricket administrators have to look at closely. There should be enough cricket going around this team so that the players can keep form and stay in form. So that when the opportunity comes to take a place in the team they're in form and ready to play.

You have worked so hard in the last 10 years, playing and coaching. Do you think you have achieved at least a part of your goals?

I think there's been some effect. The standard of club level cricket has improved. I think our club last year was better than what it has been the last seven or eight years. One of the problems involved is that you need your best players playing in the local competition, but with the commitments the international sides have at the moment these Zimbabweans hardly get to play two club games in a season. We have to look at it seriously. I would like a situation where the ZCU decides that for three months of the year our national team is not going to play any international cricket. And those three months we'll play only domestic cricket and club cricket. I don't know when they can play.

Was the motivation level of cricketers from your generation different from the current lot when playing for Zimbabwe?

It was, I think. Well, it is obvious that the first thing that comes to your mind is the pride of playing for your country. The players of my generation were mainly amateurs and the motivation was just to be on the field for your country. Now of course the finances come in too, but the motivation to play for the country remains higher. Today you can choose cricket as a career and look for a good living and then maybe you can look for a career in coaching and media once you stop playing. For most of the guys I played with, cricket was a hobby. We all worked for our living. And we loved representing the country.

Do you see a role for other countries in trying to promote cricket in Zimbabwe?

I don't think you can ask other countries to come in and assist all the time. Once you're a Test side and you're earning the finances that can keep you going yourself you pretty much have to look at your cricket yourself. Cricket worldwide is a friendly game. It's a fraternity that looks after one another. You can get the expertise from any country in the world. We've an Australian coach looking after the national team at the moment. I see no harm in getting an Indian spinner to come and teach us the art. But the general structure inside the country has to be looked after by ourselves.

What role do you see for yourself?

I would like to stay involved with the academy because it's important you have an experienced coaching staff for the juniors. To take the kid from school and teach him how to be a man in cricket. The kid might have the talent but it's important to guide the talent. I love being involved in that area. Another area I'm interested in is to direct the cricket operations in the country under the ZCU. Look after the first-class structure and make sure it's run properly. It's in place at the moment but I think it's being played at the wrong time of the year. It's not given the status by the Board that it deserves. I don't want to sit behind the desk. I want to be on the field, visit the provinces and see how the teams are being looked after.

Is Zimbabwe ready to play hectic cricket?

Well, not really. But financially you can't afford to be choosy. You need the revenue. From a purely cricket point of view, we don't have the depth of international players to keep up with hectic schedules. There're no replacements for injured players. But it'll improve in the years to come once we've a strong first-class structure in place and we can choose from a pool of 100 players and not 25.