Past,Present & Future

[Googly]

That spreading the game stuff is ok for a photo shoot. You might find one kid in a million that gazed into Masakadza’s eyes and then went on a Rocky Balboa campaign hitting anything round with a bat until he emerged wild eyed out of the change rooms and got 400 no against Starc
You need to identify the talent and then throw them an hour of balls three or four days a week for ten years.. and that’s inbetween them getting at least one game a week, if not two. That’s what every single top youngster is doing these days, less than that and you’re creating a club cricketer.
Do this for 20 really good kids and you might get two that will be decent, that’s hard work for not much return, that’s the problem.

I watch school nets with disbelief. Batters get 15 minutes if they’re lucky. The coach (he’s a geography teacher) occasionally says “good shot” or “don’t hit it in the air” if he’s not on Tinder and people expect a kid to make a hundred? It’s not happening. The only way that kid can make more than 20 is when his coach is the umpire and keeps ignoring the plumb lbw’s. or the nick that sounds like a bird’s neck cracking.
If you made a deal with these coaches and/or parent and said-
here’s your monthly salary, but here’s the incentive-
If you can get me a kid by the age of 15 that can bat for 45 min on a machine (at 125) without making a mistake and has got 10 hundreds under his belt (that’s about 1.5 tons a year, not a big ask) you get 100k in an offshore account and so does the kid, we’d improve our cricket. I don’t think ZC would ever have to shell out one payment but you’d motivate people big time. And if they had to shell out a million a year it would be money unbelievably well spent!!
Without this caliber of batsman coming through there’s no plan for us.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Spoken like a poet ^

[kudet]

with these type of administrators in byo, we are not going anywhere surely.. why throw sinks and spanners at a good initiative that has been going on for years and was starting to churn the results. this really hurts and you think sponsors will come in an environment like this.. yikes

https://sportshype.online/2019/06/26/ir ... e-cricket/

It has been a sad couple of weeks for me as a Zimbabwean sports fan. The rot that seems to exist within the structures at our sporting unions is shocking and I wonder what exactly our government and Minister of Sport think of it and more importantly, I wait to see if they are going to do something about status quo.

Just before our AFCON 2019 opener, there was a lot of buzz on social media over a player protest over unpaid wages after the Nigeria game. Just before a major tournament that I feel like we have a very decent chance of having a deep run in, had to start off on such a note. I will, however, park this issue for now.

Last Monday, 17 June, Peter De Villiers released a press statement in which he was setting the record straight on what had led to his departure from his position as the Sables coach. In the statement, he highlighted a difficult working relationship with Brandon Dawson, he cited Dawson’s negative behavior including what De Villiers said encouraging negativity along racial lines. It also came as a shock to me that Sables captain Denford Mutamangira was stripped of his captaincy for questioning De Villiers’ unfair dismissal, the former Sables coach even thanks other players for their courage and speaking out on his behalf. I will, however, park this issue for now.

Sadly it has come to my attention through several credible sources that Zimbabwe Cricket is trying to sabotage a wonderful initiative. The Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative Winter Festival run by the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative is a cricket festival that has been running for seven years now hosted in Bulawayo. The festival has attracted record-breaking numbers by hosting twenty-four primary school teams to their festivals. Invites have been extended to schools outside of Bulawayo over the past seven years that saw participants from Harare Province, Midlands Province, South Africa, and Botswana converge on the city to play for glory.[/b]

Officials from the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative have been commended by those who attend the event on an annual basis for nurturing grassroots cricket in Zimbabwe. After the festival that is traditionally held over the last week of July since 2011, they select the best 24 Under 13 cricketers from all the local based participants who are then invited for a month-long camp held over the August holidays. The Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative coaches and mentors will then hand pick 12 youngsters from the group who will go on a one nation tour to either South Africa or England. Notable alumni of the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative Winter Festival include Tendai Takavengwa, Takudzwa Takarusenga, Butjilo Ncube and Collins Mukamure. All four of the above are eighteen years old and this elite group includes two Provincial Franchise cricket champions and a provisional squad member of the Zimbabwe U19 cricket squad. A clear sign that the mentoring doesn’t end after the one nation tour, players in the program are also introduced to coaching, umpiring and other off the field roles in a bid to open all avenues to them. A very noble gesture if you ask me.

This year the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative Winter Festival has scaled down somewhat to inviting six schools from Bulawayo in part to welcome their new sponsor BAS who will donate cricketing equipment to the participating schools. The guest of honour will be renowned cricket coach Johan Vorster who will captain and play an exhibition match versus a side captained by Zimbabwean fast bowler Chris Mpofu. The dates have been booked for the 26th to 27th July and the city of Bulawayo is expectant.

What has happened over the past few days has left me bewildered and livid, to say the least. As I have already mentioned this festival is going into the eighth year of its existence and have used the same week to host the festival. Zimbabwe Cricket has decided to host a primary school cricket festival on the 27th of July, inviting the very same six schools that have accepted invitations to the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative Winter Festival three months prior.

The proposed Zimbabwe cricket festival will not provide the cricketers with the after tournament experience that the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative promises and has delivered. I have it on good authority from one school official that they have turned down the invitation from Zimbabwe Cricket as they know that they will not receive support, in the same manner, the other tournament will. He went on to send me images from the Dumisani Mankunzini Cricket Initiative Winter Festival that showed the kits the U13s would wear, the cricket equipment to be used over the two days and more importantly a letter from BAS confirming their sponsorship effort.

What is even laughable was the fact that the term ”mother body” was thrown around by those at Zimbabwe Cricket in a bid to have this particular school reconsider.

Honestly, have those entrusted to govern our sports got to such depths of desperation? It’s as if being corrupt isn’t enough they now want to derail those who are doing wonderful work out of the goodness of their hearts. I mean what if BAS pulls its sponsorship out because of such shenanigans? If anything, Zimbabwe Cricket must be working hand in hand with the organisers of such tournaments and imploring them to help them mirror such initiatives countrywide. We need progressives at the helm of our sporting unions not power hungry executives who fear generous initiatives that lighten their load.

I really wonder what the Minister of Sport would have to say about this. I have tweeted her about the ZRU debacle sadly she didn’t engage me, I’m definitely going to tweet her this story and I hope she looks into my findings. It’s just disgusting!

[Googly]

Yup that’s what they do best. They want total control, that’s what killed club cricket. That’s a Singo initiative. He’s in for the high jump, no more free lunch money

[jimmylesaint]

Rugby isn't my game so can't comment much bt what you have outlined doesn't sound good.

With regards cricket and Dumizani Mankuzinin
Nick Singo under the guise of Zimbabwe Cricket
I have no idea who's side to take here as both as bad.
The DMZ has had several run ins with the law amidst allegations to do with his "good deeds" that brings in different sponsors and always sells himself with an "official " letter from his sponsors.

Then you have NickSingo Nothing need be said!
Although the reason ZC/Tskers have taken over is because Godwin Dube(new BMCA chairman) and Mbobo(assistant coach of Tuskers) accused the schools whom used to run these tournaments of racism and therefore the schools told them to get stuffed. They then had the luxury of being coaches and selecting the kids they were coaching into relevant age groups to make it look like their coaching was good Oh and of course they had to kneel down and beg the same schools for transport money or use of a bus.
You can't make this up.

[zimbos_05]

That last part about the competition makes Mukhulani just sound even more idiotic when he says, "How can ZC be expected to be involved in cricket programmes and support around the country"

[Googly]

Ya that was funny, shot himself in the foot. They don’t want anyone doing anything because it shows them up. Plus if there’s sponsorship involved then they want to dip into it somehow, it’s compulsive.
There’s always been this problem of the elite schools being involved and pressure on selecting grass roots kids. It’s a big problem, and 9/10 times it’s why you’ll see these kids being selected for national sides that are bowlers, because you generally won’t find a good bat. Aside from not being good enough they generally don’t play the better schools, then all of a sudden they’re at a trials where the bowling is much better than they’ve ever faced and the odds are against them. Getting cricket to these areas in a way that produces genuinely good batters is a monumental task, and I don’t think we’ve got the resources to do that. There are always exceptions, which is great and we must grab them. Enthusiasm only gets you so far.
If there’s new dispensation the one area that is going to cause problems is selection of age group sides. The nonsense that happens is outrageous and I’ve seen really good players left out over the years. I know it happens everywhere but some of the stuff I’ve seen is really bad.
One of the things they always do is to have representation from as many provinces as possible. You end up with a half strength side and many disillusioned kids, it happens all the time.

[robbocricket]

I would like to reply to this post but I am not allowed to because I have not submited ten replys - which won't be seen and have to be authorised by an adminsitrator before my eleventh post will appear - so this is another