The recent criticism in the Sunday News seems to have pricked ZC’s conscience enough to provoke as response, in which they detail all the areas where they’re currently spending money while pointing out that, with domestic matches being free and only nominal admission charges levied for international matches, their income isn’t exactly what it could be, their share of ICC income aside. I mirrored the original report, so in the interest of fairness I’m going to mirror the response - you’ll find it below the cut.
Sunday News - Zimbabwe Cricket sets record straight
Monthly Archive for April, 2008
Two separate issues with Zimbabwe are causing problems for the ICC - the first is the aftermatch of the KPMG audit of ZC’s finances, where discontent with the ICC’s ‘no action’ response has led to the early departure of Chief Executive Malcolm Speed - Speed had submitted a very critical report of ZC’s financial issues to the ICC late last year, and is reportedly incensed that no action was taken. President-Elect David Morgan recognised Speed’s issues, but also spoke of the unique business environment in Zimbabwe that I’ve referred to previously:
“Malcolm was clearly uncomfortable with the board’s decision regarding the KPMG report. It essentially reflected the extremely difficult trading position that exists in Zimbabwe, where parallel markets abound. Trading conditions are very difficult in Zimbabwe.”
That ‘excuse’ wasn’t enough to placate Speed, though, who is now on paid leave for the remainder of his term of office.
Meanwhile, the Chingoka visa issue rumbles on - the ICC’s annual board meeting has already been moved to Dubai (the first time in the organisation’s history it won’t have been held at Lord’s), while there’s continuing doubt about England’s hosting of the World Twenty20 in 2009 should the UK block any ZC players or officials from attending. Morgan is currently expecting the tournament to go ahead as planned, but the possibility of a switch has not yet been ruled out.
Cricket365 - Zim Saga Forced Speed Departure | England Warned Over Chingoka Visa
After their first round home loss to Northerns Easterns bounced back in emphatic fashion to beat Southerns by an innings and seven runs at the Masvingo Sports Club.
Southerns won the toss and elected to bat, and were bowled out for 271 runs on the opening day on Thursday. Shingirai Masakadza and Philemon Kadzitye were the pick of the Easterns bowlers, ripping through the Southerns top and middle order to end with three wickets each. Richmond Mutumbami and Robertson Chinyengetere offered Southerns’ only resistance as each scored 50 runs and they combined well in a partnership for the fourth wicket that produced 75 runs from 126 balls.
The second day’s play was dominated by a double century by Stuart Matsikenyeri as Easterns made 387 runs before they were dismissed by a bowling attack that was led by Tafadzwa Kamungozi who ended with figures of 7/104. Matsikenyeri’s 201, the first double century of the 2007/8 Logan Cup tournament, came off 226 balls. His innings also had two significant partnerships: one for 97 runs which was for the seventh wicket with Steven Nyamuzinga (52) and the other for the tenth with Shingirai Masakadza (27), which produced 100 runs.
No such batting was displayed by Southerns in their second innings as the highest knock was just 26 from Patient Charumbira and the next, 21 from Chamunorwa Chibhabha. Prosper Utseya took 4/25 for Easterns, with the younger Masakadza showing his value by picking up 2/25, but Southerns’ final score of 109 wasn’t quite enough to make Easterns bat again. Scoredcard below the cut.
Southerns 271 (Mutumbami 50, Chinyengetere 50, Kadzitye 3/26) & 109 (Charumbira 26, Utseya 4/25), Easterns 387 (Matsikenyeri 201, Kamungozi 7/104). Easterns win by an innings and 7 runs.
Continue reading ‘Easterns Back on Track With Win Over Southerns’
Northerns cruised to victory over Westerns on the final day of their Logan Cup match at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. After resuming on their overnight score of 101/2 (following on, after Northerns first innings was declared on 417/6 and Westerns only managed 137 from their first innings), Westerns could only add another 96 runs as Gary Brent and Raymond Price ripped through the rest of their batting line-up. Brent claimed another two wickets on his way to 4/40, and Price finished with 3/32. Northerns could not have hoped for a better start to the day as Price took two early wickets in his first over. He had Westerns dangerman Tafadzwa Ngulube trapped leg before for 51 and then forced the new man, Thabo Mboyi, to nick to Brent at slip.
Brent then joined in and stopped Mbekezele Mabuza who was looking good after making 31 off 72 balls. He also featured in a 36-run stand for the seventh wicket with Tawanda Mupariwa, who put up 48 runs off 106 balls and also had another partnership with Simbarashe Kusano for the eighth wicket, before the latter hooked a Trevor Garwe delivery to an onrushing Admire Manyumwa at the covers.
Brent then cleaned up the Westerns tail, taking the remaining two wickets for 12 runs, to ensure that Northerns remain top of the Logan Cup log. Full scorecard below the cut.
Northerns 417/6 decl (Chigumbura 186, Mpofu 3/73), Westerns 137 & 197 (Ngulube 51, Brent 4/40). Northerns win by an innings and 83 runs.
The second match of round two is Southerns versus Easterns in Masvingo. Southerns won the toss and elected to bat, and put on 271 before being bowled out - both Richmond Mutumbami and Robertson Chinyengetere contributed 50, while Philemon Kadzitye contributed 3/26 for the visitors. Easterns’ openers Tino Mawoyo and Johnson Marumisa uneventfully took their side to 10/0 at the close of play, leaving this match nicely balanced going into day two.
Southerns 271 (Mutumbani 50, Chinyengetere 50, Kadzitye 3/26), Easterns 10/0.
Both sides in this match continued from where they left off in round one, with Northerns quickly securing their dominance over a Westerns side that really isn’t up to their normal form at the moment. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Northerns cruised their way through the day, losing just two wickets on their way to a score of 234 at stumps, with Alois Tichana (85*) and Elton Chigumbura (93*) making the most of some weak Westerns bowling - Chris Mpofu’s 1/39 was the best of a bad bunch, and Westerns already look in danger of losing this one.
Northerns 234/2 (Chigumbura 93*, Mpofu 1/39), Westerns yet to bat.
Reds clinched the Logan Cup ‘B’ after their final match, against Golds, ended in a tie. After losing the toss and being asked to field first, Reds bowled out their opponents for 102 runs, with Tonderai Bwanya in menacing form taking 5/23 runs on the opening day. He was aided by fellow seamers Pieter Fani and Donald Tiripano who each took two apiece as they took grip of the match early on. However the game took an unexpected turn as the Golds fought back and put up an even more scintillating bowling performance to dismiss the Reds for 49 runs. On a day dominated by bowlers, Golds’ Khawulani Ntuli finished the day with 6/21 runs. Ntuli could do no wrong on the day as he maintained his perfect line on is way to pillaging through Reds top and middle order.
However, Reds returned a rejuvenated side on the second day and removed their opponents for 58 runs to give themselves a target of 112 runs for victory. They got off to a good start with openers Clement Rizhibowa and Sadson Mukumira putting up a 50-run partnership off 94 balls. Rizhibowa hit two fours on his way to a team-high 29 runs off 58 balls. But the partnership was to be the Reds’ only batting highlight as the rest of the team failed to make meaningful runs, with most not getting double digits. Freedom Takarusenga and Ntuli again were the pick of the Golds bowlers, sharing Reds’ entire line up among themselves. This time Takarusenga emerged the better of the two claiming 6/36 runs while Ntuli took 4/29. Reds’ final wicket fell with their score on 111, leaving the scores level and the match tied.
With Reds having defeated Greens by more than an innings in their other match of the tourney, the tie was enough to secure them the title.
Golds 102 (Takurasenga 29, Bwanya 5/23) & 58, Reds 49 (Ntuli 6/21) & 111 (Rizhibowa 29, Takurasenga 6/36). Match tied.
CricInfo has a report on the experiences of 4 Zimbabwean players who are currently undergoing coaching at Australia’s Centre of Excellence, under an arrangement between ZC and Cricket Australia. The four players are batsmen Friday Kasteni and Regis Chakabva, and upcoming pace bowlers Tendai Chisoro and Prosper Tsvanhu. Two Zim coaches, national side assistant Walter Chawaguta and U19 coach Shepherd Makunura, are also participating in the program. The idea is that exposure to Australian coaching techniques - which certainly don’t do their cricketers any harm - will improve the performances of the Zimbabwean players, and you can read more about their experiences over at CricInfo.
Not all Zimbabwean players are so lucky, though, and there is word that a number of local players have been refused permission to play overseas during the Zimbabwean “off season” - or at the very least, until the Logan Cup has been completed. ZC apparently feels that the presence of the top local players is required to ensure a decent standard of competition in the domestic first-class tournament, but with Tatenda Taibu having been cleared to travel to India for the IPL (and looking like he’ll possibly not play a match there), there’s resentment that other players aren’t being afforded an equal opportunity to improve their game. An un-named player quoted by CricInfo said:
“The guys do not want to do anything that jeopardises their contracts with ZC, but ZC must realise that the guys will not gain anything from playing in the Logan Cup. Club cricket in England is far better than our first-class game. Surely other upcoming players should be happy to get the opportunity to play in the Logan Cup. Perhaps ZC fear for the standards … we do not have a large player base.”
You can see the point of both sides of the argument, to be fair - yes there are players in Zim who would welcome the chance to play in the Logan Cup, but they’re not going to get any advantage from it unless the top local players are also there…
CricInfo - Friday at work | Players blocked from leaving Zimbabwe
Hosts Easterns won the toss and elected to bowl. Zimbabwe top-order batsman Brendan Taylor anchored the Northerns batting with 62 runs. He was helped by fellow Zimbabwe international Graeme Cremer (35) and Kenneth Kondo (30), before Northerns were dismissed for 272 runs. Easterns’ opening attack pair of Shingirayi Masakadza and Silent Mujaji did most of the work with the ball, grabbing 3/32 and 3/40 respectively.
Easterns declared their first innings on 210/9, with Zimbabwe opener Hamilton Masakadza having made 60, ably supported by international team-mates Timycen Maruma (52) and Tinotenda Mawoyo (27). Another Zimbabwe international, Raymond Price, was the pick of Northerns’ bowling, claiming 4/12 runs, while Zimbabwe A bowler Admire Manyumwa got 2/23.
Price returned with the bat to lead Northerns to 156 before they were dismissed. He made 34. For Easterns, Maruma picked 7/82 and Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya 2/23 in 13 overs, which included five maidens.
Easterns were then dismissed for 153 – 65 runs short of their target. Hamilton Masakadza made 58 runs before he was bowled by Cremer, and Forster Mutizwa 39. For Northerns, Price got 5/39 runs in 18 overs, six of them maiden, and Cremer 2/42.
Full scorecard below the cut.
Northerns 272 (Taylor 62, S Masakadza 3/32) & 156 (Price 34, Maruma 7/82), Easterns 210/9 decl (H Masakadza 60, Price 4/12) & 153 (H Masakadza 58, Price 5/39). Northerns win by 65 runs.
Continue reading ‘Northerns Edge Easterns in 2nd Round One Match’
Centrals eased their way to a 7-wicket win over Westerns in the first of two opening-round Logan Cup matches last week. Centrals won the toss and sent Westerns in to bat, dismissing them for 187 runs. Tafadzwa Ngulube top-scored with 112 runs before he was caught by Bright Mugochi off the bowling of Mike Chinouya. Mbekezeli Mabuza chipped in with 31 runs, but after that it was a catalog of failure for the rest of the side, with the remaining 9 batsmen contributing just 36 runs between them. Brighton Mugochi was the star of the Centrals bowling, taking 5/48 runs, while Mike Chinouya took 2/22.
Batting, Centrals finished with a first innings lead of 78, after being dismissed for 265. Bothwell Chapungu contributed 58, Eric Chauluka 55 and Solomon Mire 42. For Westerns, Simba Kusano got 3/46 runs and John Nyumbu 2/38.
The Westerns second innings saw Keith Dabengwa display some form, making 41 and Bradley Staddon 32. Again, though, most of the Westerns side failed to do anything useful with the bat, and the side were bowled out for 160. Mugochi again led the Centrals attack, this time picking up 4/55 runs, while captain Ed Rainsford got 2/14 runs and Zimbabwe U19 bowler Malcolm Waller took 2/26.
Chasing 83 to win, Centrals lost three wickets, two of which were taken by Zimbabwe fast bowler Tawanda Mupariwa. He finished with figures of 2/16 in eight overs. Bothwell Chapungu led Centrals’ batting with 40 runs and wicket-keeper batsman Tarisai Mahlunge added 22, as Centrals reached the target with seven wickets in hand.
Full scorecard below the cut.
Westerns 187 (Ngulube 112, Mugochi 5/37) & 160 (Dabengwa 41, Mugochi 4/55), Centrals 265 (Chapungu 58, Kusano 3/46) & 85/3 (Chapungu 40, Mupariwa 2/16). Centrals win by 7 wickets.
Continue reading ‘Centrals Thrash Westerns in Logan Cup Opener’