Zimbabwe prepare to fire Simmons

Phil Simmons: living on borrowed time © AFP

Phil Simmons, Zimbabwe's coach, is on the verge of being fired, according to sources close to the national side.

Simmons was already under pressure before the recent two-day humiliation by New Zealand. He had been publicly criticised by a selector following the Test and ODI series losses in Bangladesh earlier in the year.

A report in today's Zimbabwe Independent suggested that the Zimbabwe board had already sounded out possible replacements, with Sandeep Patil, who took Kenya to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup, among the frontrunners, although Ozias Bvute, the board's managing director, denied the claims.

Bvute did, however, admit that there was a thorough review of the performance in the Harare Test being undertaken. "It's obviously important that we introspect to enable us to do better," he told the paper. "Our intention is never to go into a match with the desire to lose.

"We shall look into consulting widely to ensure all our structures are adequately improved so that our performance reaches the expectations of our fans and spectators alike."

But an unnamed source said that Simmons' time had run out. "Phil is finding it difficult to get the message across to the players," the source said. "He has not added any value to the team at all and, actually, the young players have got worse since he took over. We need someone with good work ethics, and we certainly need to find a better coach from somewhere. Phil is a good coach, but Zimbabwe Cricket overrated his ability, and he has been found wanting at this level of cricket. It seems that he cannot identify the problem with the team. "

In Simmons' defence, coaching the Zimbabwe national side is an unenviable job with most of the decent players either having retired or moved abroad, and the majority of the remainder just not being good enough. It is hard to see who would want the role. The best prospect would be a former player, but most of those with the credentials are abroad with little desire to return under the current political regime.

Dean du Plessis, a local commentator, said that Simmons was just too nice. "He doesn't have hardness to coach at Test level," he told the Independent. "He's a happy sort of guy, a gentle giant. He likes to socialise with everyone. There is nothing wrong with that, but that is one of his major weaknesses. He lacks the ability to discipline his players. He has simply not adjusted well as a Test coach."

That view was supported by an editorial in the same paper. "Phil Simmons is not good enough to coach a nascent Test side like Zimbabwe," it said. "The gentle giant is not only too soft for the job but has clearly failed to inspire confidence into the players. "While the dissonance between players in camp may be a result of the rebel saga as well as age and social differences, Simmons has failed to harmonise relations and to instil discipline among the cricketers."

And it warned that it was not just Simmons in the firing line. "The whole technical set-up should be reviewed - from provincial to national level." Zimbabwe cricket desperately needs to turn round it fortunes, but in the meantime it also needs a scapegoat. Simmons is likely to be that person.