COVENTRY SPEAKS ON THAT TWEET

Sports Minister, Kirsty Coventry says there was nothing more to it after her tweet sparked a furore. “My husband was at school with Brenda...

Sports Minister, Kirsty Coventry says there was nothing more to it after her tweet sparked a furore.

“My husband was at school with Brendan and we already had his number and I wanted to get hold of Hamilton, so I managed to get hold of Brendan first. For me there is nothing more to it.

“Unfortunately the position that I have now, there will always be a Negative Nelly; that comes with the terrain. But for people that actually know me, they know that’s a lot of rubbish.”
 Zimbabwe cricket skipper Hamilton Masakadza also said : "The minister did indeed call and she mentioned that she had actually got my number through BT. It was really a special moment for her to call us. That was my first time ever to speak to a minister … I actually froze a little bit when she first called.
“I immediately put it on the (WhatsApp) group with the team to say the minister was sending her congratulations which I thought was a very nice touch from her. It was very encouraging for the boys.

“A lot of the guys look up to her. You saw today the number of selfies that were lined up; it’s someone who we have always looked up to. She is one of our heroes, one of the sporting legends in Zim. So for her to have called us and have shown us that recognition was really a proud moment for us.”