Hamilton Masakadza is leaving his role as Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC)’s Director of Cricket after he resigned from the position this week.
He cited Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 as the main reason for his decision to step down.
“This decision has come about after careful consideration of the successes and failures of our cricket and my responsibilities,” Masakadza, a former Zimbabwe captain who assumed the Director of Cricket role soon after retiring from all forms of cricket in October 2019, said in his resignation letter.
“As much as there has been a lot of progress in my tenure, the fact remains that we are the only Full Member nation not participating at the next T20 World Cup after our shock loss to Uganda.
“This was indeed one of the lowest points of my career and I take full responsibility as Director of Cricket.”
Commenting on the decision, ZC Managing Director Givemore Makoni said: “Hamilton’s status as a cricket legend is not in doubt and we are indebted to him for his immense contributions to the sport, on and off the field.
“After calling time on his playing career, he gave his all trying to ensure ZC has the foundations in place to identify, develop and prepare the next generation of players.
“As he leaves his current role, as an organisation we take great satisfaction in knowing that, despite some crucial results not going our way, Zimbabwe teams and our cricket in general have made significant progress under his watch.
“I hope the game will continue benefiting from his knowledge and expertise.”
The highlights during Masakadza’s four-year tenure as Director of Cricket include Zimbabwe’s qualifying for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia where they reached the Super 12 stage against all odds.
Under his guidance, ZC introduced several new tournaments aimed at uplifting the standard of the game in the country, among them the National Premier League and the Zim Afro T10 league for men as well as two women’s provincial competitions, the Fifty50 Challenge and the Women’ T20 Cup.
Masakadza also oversaw the successful staging of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Zimbabwe.
He leaves at a time when he was already working on the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 that the country will co-host and he is keen to remain involved to help deliver the events or to continue serving ZC in another capacity.
“This decision was a very difficult one to make and I remain fully committed to Zimbabwe Cricket and would very much be interested in serving in a different capacity as the organisation looks forward to hosting the Men’s Under-19 World Cup in 2026 and the Men’s 50-over World Cup in 2027,” Masakadza said.
