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Politics & Sport (by Chris Hockman)

“Politics and sport just should not mix,” is a common thought, yet one that rarely describes the truth. An exploration of the sports world can yield many interesting results, especially when the world of sports is analyzed in the 1970s. During the time, South Africa had an apartheid regime and many governments around the world barred them from competing in their nations. Before the ban, Australia played South Africa & New Zealand in rugby for the Tri-Nations Trophy, the most prized trophy in the southern hemisphere, every year, and now this was not possible.

South Africa played in Australia in the early 70s, and its doing so sparked riots around the nation. One person watching the event on television remembers seeing The Wallabies, Australia’s Rugby Team, play South Africa in Adelaide and remembers the rioting involved. “It was an incredible experience,” he said, “I never thought that politics would come into sport.” Politics became so intertwined with sport that an election in New Zealand was determined by whether or not the people of New Zealand wanted to see New Zealand Teams play South African teams.

Since Nelson Mandela came to power in South Africa and helped end apartheid, the nation has shown itself as one of the greatest sporting nations. At the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup, in one of the greatest displays of reconciliation, then President Nelson Mandela presented the world cup trophy in his South African rugby jersey to the winning South African Captain, a white rugby player. The photo of that moment has become one of the greatest photos the sporting world ever saw and it meant much to South Africa as a grand example of the decades old conflict being solved.

People may say that such things have not happened since, and indeed, examples are difficult to find. However, Africa has once again become an example of the mixing of sport and politics. Zimbabwe’s leader, Robert Mugabe, is one that promotes a racist regime against Anglo-Saxons and as head of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU), is spreading this out to the cricket pitch. At the 2003 Cricket World Cup in Africa, at a game in Harare, Zimbabwe two of Zimbabwe’s greatest players - Andy Flower and Henry Olonga - wore black wristbands as a protest against the regime in Zimbabwe. The ZCU immediately terminated the two players contracts saying that the two players had retired from all levels of cricket. Andy Flower still continues to play State cricket in Australia.

Now, however, the problem has gone beyond the firing of players for protesting. Any white player having a dispute with the ZCU will be fired. A few weeks ago in April, Heath Streak, a team captain who had a number of disputes with the ZCU over player selection, feeling that the teams were biased towards black players, had to leave his team. An announcement came through on the Wisden Cricinfo website on the April 2 that Streak had resigned as captain and Taibu, a black player, was to become the new captain. Taibu is a talented player, however it is a common belief that Grant Flower, Andy Flower’s brother, is better captaincy material. Taibu is only 20 years old and will be the youngest captain in cricket history and is very inexperienced.

On April 6, Denis Streak, Heath’s father, made a statement that his son had not stood down as captain or as a player and had been dropped from the side. It is another blow for the Streak family. Denis Streak stated that, “All he [Heath] said was that if his concerns were not addressed he would ‘consider possible retirement from international cricket’”.

In 2001 Denis Streak was gaoled for not giving his farm to government-backed militants under Robert Mugabe’s Land Reform Policy. Attracting large publicity, he was permitted to stay on a quarter of the farm. Since his son’s termination as captain, that could very well change. With the loss of Streak, many of the players on the Zimbabwe cricket side are also considering leaving. The ZCU has finally accepted the politicisation of the union and are now tools of Mugabe. Martin Williamson writes, “The irony is that Robert Mugabe has used the nation's cricket side as a symbol that all is well within Zimbabwe”.

Three Nations, Sri Lanka, Australia, and England, are set to tour Zimbabwe before the end of the year. England has already expressed its concerns about playing in Zimbabwe after suggestions from Prime Minister Tony Blair. Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, said that it was the decision of Cricket Australia, who sent a delegation in March and were satisfied with the current political situation, to go to Zimbabwe. As for imposing sanctions, perhaps Denis Streak puts it best "I lost out back in the Rhodesia days because of sanctions," he explains. "So I know what it is like to be isolated from international sport."

The decision to tour Zimbabwe and play is a difficult one, and the countries visiting the country may still change their minds if the political situation worsens. No matter what the decision is, however, it is clear to see that even sports can mirror the political situation of countries in different parts of the world.

Sources

“Denis Streak.” Cricinfo Zimbabwe. 6 April 2004. 30 May 2004. <http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/PLAYERS/ZIM/S/STREAK_DH_09005236/>.

Streak, Denis. “Denis Streak: a statement.” Cricinfo Zimbabwe. 6 April 2004. 30 May 2004. <http://aus.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/APR/
118295_ZIM_06APR2004.html>.

“Streak stands down as captain.” Cricinfo Zimbabwe. 2 April 2004. 30 May 2004. <http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/APR/
115196_ZIM_02APR2004.html>.

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