Scores at close of Day Three in the current Logan Cup matches:
Northerns 493/7 decl (Taylor 150*, Chinouya 2/67), Centrals 158 (Mire 42*, Manyumwa 3/24) & 190/5 (following on; Gupo 35, Chikunya 35)
Westerns 192 (Staddon 48, Chibhabha 4/25) & 191/7 (Staddon 64, Charumbira 2/35), Southerns 272 (Mutumbami 64, Staddon 2/27)
Archive for the 'Zimbabwe Cricket' Category
Scores at close of Day Two:
Northerns 493/7 decl (Taylor 150*, Chinouya 2/67), Centrals 114/6 (Waller 27)
Westerns 192 (Staddon 48, Chibhabha 4/25), Southerns 212/6 (Mutumbami 64, Ntuli 2/38)
Both 4th round matches are currently underway - here are the latest scores, at stumps on Day One:
Northerns 308/2 (Senzere 131, Waller 1/36), Centrals yet to bat
Westerns 192 (Staddon 48, Chibhabha 4/25), Southerns 10/0 (Rizhibowa 7*, Machiri 3*)
In his latest effort to persuade ZC to allow him to return to the fold, Mark Vermeulen has reportedly offered to help meet the costs of rebuilding the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy. The Academy’s buildings were burnt down by Vermeulen in an arson attack - he was later cleared of responsibility due to mental illness, which he suffered partly as a result of head injuries received while playing for Zimbabwe.
Since his acquittal, Vermeulen has made no secret of his desire to return to the national side, but despite being one of the best players in this season’s National League (where he captained Old Hararians), there’s been no call-up to any ZC-sanctioned side. Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent, Vermeulen said:
“I’m jobless at the moment, the only job I can do is playing cricket. I’ve kindly asked ZC to give me my job back, then I will give a percentage of my earning towards rebuilding of the Academy.”
It appears Westerns were willing to allow him to play for them this season, but the required approval from ZC wasn’t forthcoming.
Zimbabwe Independent - Vermeulen Offers To Rebuild Academy
After laying into ZC’s financial woes, the Sunday Mail has another piece, this time looking at what ZC are doing to help the national side on their way back to Test cricket. Supported by quotes from coach Robin Brown, their line seems to be that it’s not time yet (although it seems ZC forgot to tell them that the India tour has been cancelled). Asked on if he thought the current side was ready, Brown was quite clear:
“I don’t think we’re anywhere near there yet. I think the more of these four-day games we play the better we’ll get. There has been an improvement. The concentration levels are rising; the bowlers are bowling better lines. But I don’t think you become a Test player over 12 games. County players are playing that in a season and will have played quite a few more before they reach Test level.
“”I think [repeated heavy defeats] knocks the confidence. I really do. I think you’ve got to get guys in the top six making hundreds on a regular basis before thrusting them into Test cricket and we haven’t been doing that.
“I don’t think our local league helps us. The talent is spread too wide with 14 first league sides which is too many given that we don’t have 150 to 160 first-class players. When you haven’t got anyone aged 25 to 30 playing for you (aside from Gary Brent and Ray Price), there’s a missed generation there. Those are the guys that should be playing league. Your Stuart Carlisles and Trevor Grippers and teaching the guys as they go along. But suddenly you take all of that experience out of the way and expect these guys to fill the breach with no playing experience. It makes it hard. It’s unfair to expect them to fill that gap straight away.”
Nice to see that the coach is honest and not completely towing the party line. The plan still seems to be for Zim to return to Test cricket against Sri Lanka later in the year, but with no cricket currently scheduled between the end of May and the Sri Lanka tour, that’s surely still too soon.
Sunday News - Is Zim ready for Test status?
Defending champions Easterns kept in touch with log leaders Northerns with a convincing 385-run win over Centrals at Mutare Sports Club. Easterns’ batting, led by Hamilton Masakadza’s 205-ball 117 (and back by a useful 67 in the second innings), was the difference between the sides - but it was fireworks from Forster Mutizwa which lit up the game. The 22-year-old clubbed 102 from 92 balls with 13 fours and four sixes during the second innings as Easterns set a huge target of 492 for the visitors. In their innings, Centrals mustered 169 and 107, with Prosper Utseya (5/28) doing the damage in their first innings and Steady Musoso (5/43) in their second. Brighton Mugochi was one of Centrals’ few highlights, taking 8/158 in the match.
The win leaves Easterns in with a shout of overhauling Northerns to retain their title. Easterns have a bye week this week while Northerns face Centrals - if Northerns win that match it’s all over, but if they lose, then Easterns’ final match (against Westerns beginning on 17th May) will suddenly gain a lot more significance. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Easterns 294 (H Masakadza 117, Mugochi 5/69) & 367/8 decl (Mutizwa 102, Mugochi 3/89), Centrals 169 (Chauluka 84, Utseya 5/28) & 107 (Chauluka 30, Musoso 5/43). Easterns win by 385 runs.
Gary Brent’s all-round exploits led Northerns to an innings and 92-run win against Southerns at Harare Sports Club, in a match that was tied up inside two days. Southerns were bowled out for 141 on the first day but fought back well to reduce Northerns to 87/5 at the close - but Brent (51) and Ray Price (89) rescued the innings with a 133-run partnership for the ninth wicket to boost Northerns to 275, giving them a first-innings lead of 134. In reply, Southerns were blown away for just 42 in an innings that barely lasted an hour, with Brent 5/21) removing the top four to get the rot going, while Price and Graeme Cremer chipped in with two apiece. Only Jemton Chinyengetere (12) reached double-figures for Southerns, with five of their batsmen leaving with no score.
The win leaves Northerns sitting pretty on top of the Logan Cup table with one match to play, and with Easterns being the only side with a realistic chance of catching them. Scorecard below the cut.
Southerns 141 (Mawhire 44, Manyumwa 3/14) & 42 (J Chinyengetere 12, Brent 5/21), Northerns 275 (Price 89, Kamungozi 3/38). Northerns win by an innings and 92 runs.
Continue reading ‘Northern Thrash Southerns to Maintain Logan Cup Lead’
MCC Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw has indicated that the club has no regrets at the ICC’s decision to relocate their annual conference to Dubai, ending 99 years of association with Lords. The decision was taken as a result of doubts that ZC Chairman Peter Chingoka would receive a visa to enter the UK for the event.
“With what is happening in Zimbabwe under the current regime, if by not having the conference at Lord’s can in any way ultimately help the people of Zimbabwe then it is a small price to pay. I’m not so sure that it will, but if there is a small message that goes back then perhaps that is all we can do to help the people of Zimbabwe, because they need our help.
“Cricket is not a political tool but if in some way we can remove the obvious massive injustices that are happening in that country then we would support that, because people come first and the atrocities that are occurring there should not be tolerated.”
He’s quite right, it’s gesture politics that will have no effect on the ground. But I’m sure the gesture will be appreciated by some.
CricInfo - Bradshaw supports stand on Zimbabwe
I ran a story a while back, sourced from CricInfo, about what then appeared to be a rather petty move by the UK Government to prevent a Zimbabwe U15 side from taking part in the CLICO U15 International Championship in the West Indies. Reports at the time indicated that the UK had refused transit visas for the side, forcing their withdrawal. To say that I was annoyed at the UK’s reported actions would have been an understatement.
CricInfo have now done some further digging into the saga, and it seems that initial reports were in error. Their follow-up investigations show a level of either duplicity or incompetence on ZC’s part (you decide) that sealed the tour’s fate before visa applications were even on the agenda:
A source inside Zimbabwe Cricket has told Cricinfo that senior board officials told junior cricket co-ordinators that the trip would not happen as long ago as January when the invitation originally arrived.
At that time, the organisers told ZC that all costs in the Caribbean would be met by them, and they would also pay US$10,000 towards flights. In late February, ZC contacted the organisers and asked for an increased contribution towards the travel costs, and the sum offered was raised to US$15,000.
On March 3, the organisers received an email from ZC to the effect that the trip was not possible because of “circumstances”. This was more than six weeks before they were due to travel. After discussions, ZC changed its mind and 24 hours later confirmed their participation while for their part, the organisers agreed to meet the full air fares from South Africa, leaving the board only needing to fund the flight from Harare to Johannesburg.
However, it is unclear why the visa applications were not submitted at that time as it appears that the British embassy were not contacted by telephone until the first week of April, almost four weeks later. In response to an general query, a board official was advised that any visas for individuals who had not visited the UK, USA or EU in the previous two years had to be handled in Pretoria and, as a result, there was not enough time to process the applications.
It was, nevertheless, widely reported that the visas had been turned down but this has since been strenuously denied by embassy officials as no formal applications were ever submitted.
If the above is true, then I happily take by my earlier criticisms of the UK’s actions - instead, it’s ZC who should really have some questions to ask about their handling of the matter. On the other hand, CricInfo do have a tendency to stick the boot into ZC at any opportunity (and this article is credited to Martin Williamson, who really seems to relish that), so I’m not certain that the truth isn’t somewhere in-between…
CricInfo - Zimbabwe visa problems only half the story
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