Zimbabwe Cricket Board suspended by ICC with immediate effect

What's the story?

The Zimbabwe Cricket Board has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to their failure to provide a process for free and democratic elections and to ensure that there is no government interference in its administration for cricket.

Apart from Zimbabwe, the boards of Croatia, Morocco and Zambia were also suspended due to government interference.

Zimbabwe Cricket have been suspended with immediate effect.https://t.co/lfOC8J5LRm

— ICC (@ICC) July 18, 2019

In case you didn't know...

The Zimbabwe Cricket Board (ZC) were suspended by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) on June 22. The board's acting managing director Givemore Makoni was also suspended with immediate effect due to violations of the constitution and other controversies.

The SRC also said that the officials at ZC were subject of an investigation into fraud and the misuse of money, which also included money received from the International Cricket Council.

The heart of the matter

Now that the Zimbabwe Cricket Board have been suspended, the ICC will stop their full member funding to the nation. Also, Zimbabwe will be barred from participating in ICC events which has put their participation in October's Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier in jeopardy.

“We do not take the decision to suspend a member lightly, but we must keep our sport free from political interference,” said ICC chairman Shashank Manohar. “What has happened in Zimbabwe is a serious breach of the ICC Constitution and we cannot allow it to continue unchecked. The ICC wants cricket to continue in Zimbabwe in accordance with the ICC Constitution,” he said.

This is only the second time that an ICC full member has been suspended after South Africa were dealt with the same blow in 1970 because of their government's policy of apartheid.

What's next?

The future of cricket in Zimbabwe has been put in serious trouble now. Even though the boards of Nepal and USA were similarly suspended, the ICC never stopped their respective teams from playing in international events. However, Zimbabwe have been suspended from participating in ICC events and this has made their representation in the ICC Women's World Cup Twenty20 Qualifier in Scotland and ICC Men's World Cup Twenty20 Qualifier in UAE in jeopardy.

It is also unsure as to what will happen to Zimbabwe's tour of Bangladesh and India later in the year.

Kyle Jarvis also tweeted after the announcement came out.

A lot of good people have just been put out of work @ICC

— Kyle Jarvis (@KyleJarv89) July 18, 2019