The former national team captain resigned early last week to concentrate on his activities as chairman of the Zimbabwe Cricket Board’s committee as well as his work as a commentator.
Campbell, who took up the job in July 2009, said there was need to focus on the development of the game at grassroots level as well as the national franchise league.
Former wicketkeeper batsman Wayne James replaced him and will join Kevin Curran and Givemore Makoni on the selection panel.
“It was a fantastic job working as one of the national selectors. I think we are heading towards the right direction since coming back to the Test arena. However, we are not privileged like other countries when it comes to the pool of players from where to pick players from.
“In our case it is very difficult to find a replacement if a player gets injured, as was the case when Tatenda Taibu, Vusi Sibanda and Brian Vitori got injured ahead of the Twenty20 match against New Zealand. We are not as privileged as other countries when it comes to the player base,” he said.
“It was very difficult for us as national selectors to find replacements for these players and that primarily is the reason why I left the job to concentrate on development. We need to focus more on our structures to keep improving on the player base and that means going to schools. When we started with the franchise system, it was from top to bottom.”
Campbell also said that the future however looked bright for the team in spite of the challenges noting the presence of a good coach and some exciting players.
“We have an exciting group of youngsters and I think that the next World Cup will be the parameter. There is also next year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka. The more games the players play, the better. We had a good performance against Bangladesh but unfortunately could not carry on that form against Pakistan,” he said.
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He also added that there was no board interference in the selection of the players for national duty.
“I take full responsibility of every decision as the chairman of national selectors. One needs to be on his toes, attending matches. We would work with the franchise coaches in monitoring the performance of the players. (Kevin) Curran and (Givemore) Makoni would watch the franchise matches while I monitor the international games,” he said.
Campbell however, ruled out coming back into the fold as a coach of the team in the near future.
“Right now I will concentrate on governing the structures of the game locally as well as my job as a cricket commentator. I will be spreading the word of Zimbabwe cricket while doing the commentaries. I may consider coaching the team three years from now,” he said.
He said he has confidence that the team, comprising James, Curran and Makoni that he is leaving behind will continue to raise the game.
