Once again controversy strikes Zimbabwe cricket. Alistair Campbell was certainly unwise in expressing publicly his views that the national side is being weakened by selection on race rather than merit.

Inevitably there are those who choose to interpret those marks racially, whereas the policy that Campbell was supporting was simply that of selection on merit alone. Unfortunately he chose to look at the negative side of the coin, inviting accusations of racism.

For the first time since his career began, Campbell has been omitted from a Zimbabwe touring team. He will not be going to Sharjah, and neither will Guy Whittall. The selectors insist that both omissions are for reasons of form, but there are those that suggest that in the case of Campbell that his omission is not unrelated to his comments.

This argument is fast becoming moot as young black Zimbabweans have made great advances in the last few years. Henry Olonga has already shown that he can bowl devastating match-winning spells, and when he is in form he is one of the first choices. Brighton Watambwa is another pace bowler who has proved his worth, but is suffering from one injury after another. Mluleki Nkala has great all-round potential, but has suffered from being pushed too far too soon, stepping up from school cricket to international cricket overnight.

On the batting side Hamilton Masakadza has proved his worth abundantly in just three Test matches. Everyone speaks highly of Stuart Matsikenyeri, and Tatenda Taibu's wicket-keeping is superb, while he has the as yet undelivered potential to be worth his place in the Test team on his batting alone. These three Churchill schoolboys are writing their A-levels at present, but next year should see them take giant strides forward. The more work is done at junior level and in the development areas, the quicker the black talent will come through.

As for the dropping of Campbell and Whittall, neither of whom have scored many runs recently, it may well do them good if it redoubles their determination to fight back and make a greater impact. It may also be a lesson for all that nobody's place is guaranteed. They will probably be back for Bangladesh, and almost certainly for Sri Lanka and India.

In this issue we look back at the recent tours by South Africa and England through the eyes of Gary Brent, Zimbabwe's most reliable bowler, and forward to Sharjah with Larry Moyo. Unfortunately, facing the facts and the situation, we cannot look forward to any Zimbabwean success in Sharjah. The players have allowed themselves to become too demoralized and the situation needs wise handling by the administrators.

© CricInfo