Zimbabwe coach Houghton quits after World Cup failure

HARARE (AFP): Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton has resigned after the country’s failure to reach next year’s T20 World Cup, the national board said Wednesday.

“The Zimbabwe Cricket Board has accepted Dave Houghton’s resignation from his position as head coach of the Zimbabwe senior men’s national team with immediate effect,” the board said in a statement.

“Houghton said he had ‘lost the change room’ after 18 months in charge and felt that a ‘new voice’ was needed to take the team forward,” the statement added.

His resignation letter was sent just ahead of a board meeting Wednesday to look into the World Cup campaign. Zimbabwe lost to Namibia and Uganda at a recent qualifying tournament.

Zimbabwe have also just been beaten in a limited overs series against Ireland.

Houghton, 66, replaced Lalchand Rajput as Zimbabwe coach in June last year after six one-day and Twenty20 losses at home to Afghanistan.

The board said he would be assigned to a “new role within the organisation”.

“Dave will always be a legend of our game and it is with regret that he felt the change room needed a new voice,” said board chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani.

“While the past few months have been disappointing as we failed to qualify for both the 50-over World Cup and the T20 World Cup, they should not obscure all the work he has done over the past year to rebuild the foundations for long-term success.”

Houghton, who captained the team in their first four Test matches and 17 one-day internationals, commented: “I have always had Zimbabwe cricket at heart and, though my coaching of the national team comes to an end, I would love to be involved in other areas.

“The talent base in Zimbabwe is enormous. How we move players from talented to performing well on the international stage is a great project to be involved in.”

The board said an interim management team would be named for a tour to Sri Lanka in January.

It has also appointed a committee that has been given three weeks to look into the World Cup failures and the national structure.