Old Mutual back sponsoring Cricket

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2013/09/01 ... ld-mutual/

IN September last year, stakeholders in the local athletics world gathered at a city hotel to witness the unveiling of the Old Mutual Westgate 16km Fun Run event.

The race, which had started as a fun run 10 months earlier, was sponsored to the tune of US$16 000, making it the richest athletics event on the National Athletic Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) calendar.

Once again, on Tuesday last week, stakeholders from the cricket world gathered at Prince Edward School to witness another developmental project by Old Mutual when they officially unveiled a cricket sponsorship package worth US$43 000.

This was the first time that the festival, which is in its 21st year running, got resounding sponsorship.

Like Delta Beverages, who have always stood by Zimbabwe’s sport, sponsoring most sporting disciplines from grassroots to the highest level in this country, Old Mutual is slowly getting there. Hats off to the Old Mutual management and staff for such a gesture.

The developmental project saw 60 schools across the country taking part in a three-day cricket festival at various venues in Harare.

The tournament comprised 50 limited overs matches, held in partnership with Junior Cricket Committee and the Schools Cricket Development Committee.

What made the event unique is the foreign flavour that they managed to add by bringing two South African teams to participate in the event.

In addition to this, there were a number of schools that come from across the country that also came on board.

With our national cricket team having become the punching bag of other cricket playing nations, the move has been described as a timeous intervention as it will give national team selectors a wider player base.

Taking a closer look at the current squad, new brooms have been playing well, implying that identifying more players is the only way to rebuild the nation’s pride in the sport.

What is needed now are funds for the selectors to be able to move from one place to another identifying talented players that can take Zimbabwe cricket back to where it used to belong.

Again, players that are identified need to be empowered — given enough training time and be provided with state-of-the-art equipment — at good venues.

Funds permitting, it will be ideal for Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to come up with academic scholarships for some of the talented kids who would have been identified from faraway places or from schools which have limited time for the sport.

What needs to be done is to identify cricket playing schools in each province where all the identified kids would enrol and hire professional coaches for them as they await national team call-ups.

This is not the first time that Old Mutual has been involved in cricket circles as they already have a developmental programme that has been ongoing in partnership with the five national cricket franchises namely Mashonaland Eagles, Matabeleland Tuskers, Mountaineers, Mid-West Rhinos and Southern Rocks.

Another developmental event was held at St Georges, sponsored by CABS, their banking subsidiary, whereby 12 local schools, including three foreign ones, took part ina Twenty20 tournament.

I hope the incoming government will spare a thought for sports development and that other corporates will pluck a leaf from Old Mutual.

Not the national team though. I wonder what the point is...

[Googly]

I'm not sure about that 60 school tournament? Where was it held? I'm doubting this. I wonder what the 43 grand is being used for?
The St. George's T20 was fantastic. 3 SA sides were here, St. Andrews are one of the top cricketing sides in SA and have just come back from a hugely successful tour to England (played 13 won 12). They had some top players, but got a big fright here. All the SA teams were knocked out in the pool games by local sides. I watched a few of the games, there are some really good players here. Hellenic boys (newcomers to this tournament, had to qualify) did very well, they had two big hitters (Mambo and Van Leeuwen) that struck the ball cleanly. I can't wait to see them in a 50 over game to assess their technical ability. Churchill were very strong, probably the best T20 side, although they didn't make the finals due to a strange format that needs to be revised. I am doubting that too many of them were schoolboys though, I think there were at least 2 franchise players in their team, Churchill are renowned for this and everyone has to turn a blind eye. I don't mind actually, as it raises the standard. Pretty sure we'll see the same players next year!! The give away is that they don't fit into their school blazers. They looked formidable and then bizarrely crashed to a 65 all out in a key game!! Heath Streak coached the Falcon boys for a week before the tournament and made them contenders by getting them to take the pace off the ball. PE were a bit weak, they relied heavily on Luke Jongwe (great talent). St. George's were not too strong this year but Ives was pretty handy with his left arm orthodox, he's a really good spinner. They lacked T20 batters. I didn't see Myers bat, but he's a really good player. St. John's started badly but ended up in the finals. Not sure how Evans (son of Craig, ex Zim) is not in the U19 squad. At 6foot something he steams in and bowls fast (130), consistent outswing and has much potential. Murray is probably the most destructive opener in the country, hits it very hard and has a great eye, but inconsistent. If he tightened up his technique and picked his big shots more carefully he would be formidable. He hits it a mile. He should be a contender for U19 as well. An absolute wasted talent, I have no idea how he has been overlooked by ZC?? Welch (15) finally got his shot at first team and proved with absolute finality that he's the best opener in the country. I'll say it again, the best prospect I have probably ever seen (with the possible exception of Sam Curran). He bats like a seasoned veteran, truly bizarre to see such a young player with such a strong mind. Byrom had a shocker, but that's cricket, and Locke (son of Charlie) proved he should have been considered for U19. He's a good bat and a clever spinner. This is a very strong team, and most of them have 2-3 years left at school. They will rule the roost for the next two years here.
Peter House won the final. Peall (son of Rumpum) bowled well, as did Huchu (u16 Zim captain), he's a wonderful prospect. Campbell Saul batted well also. Good tight finish, I was rooting for John's. Welch looked like he was taking them home at a canter but was unfortunately run out. The middle order batters needed to start hitting earlier but weren't experienced enough to recognize it. They started losing wickets and I kept waiting for Byrom to be sent in but they kept dropping him down the order? Major blunder.
Great festival, looking forward to the St John's one. Will attempt to drink less than a case of beer a day and watch more cricket, my liver took a pounding.

[jaybro]

Great stuff Googly it's such a shame the top of cricket in Zimbabwe is run so poor with the schools system still going strong ......

[CrimsonAvenger]

Wow! Great round up Googly, there is excellent talent in schools by the looks of it!

[foreignfield]

Thanks for the report Googly! Much appreciated.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Googly, is rural cricket non-existent now? Or are there still pockets of white farmers playing social matches?

[foreignfield]

You can find scorecards from the CABS T20 here: http://frontrowzim.com/fr/category/cricket-3/, and further statistics here: http://frontrowzim.com/fr/tournaments/c ... et-2013/2/

Most runs: Van Leeuwen (Hellenic), also hit most sixes.
Most wickets: Ives (St. George's) and Jongwe (PE)

[foreignfield]

Two reports have now been added on this impressive website which features various school sports in Zim:

Peterhouse Boys Retains CABS T20 Title

Dean Peall’s four-wicket haul and Tapiwa Gadzikwa’s incredible death bowling helped Peterhouse Boys retain their CABS T20 title in a final played against St John’s College on Madden Field at St George’s College on Sunday afternoon.

Needing only nine runs off the last over to win their first ever CABS T20 title, St John’s looked set for a win. Nonetheless, Gadzikwa with one black swollen eye, had other plans. The Peterhouse Boys’ pace bowler did not only deny St John’s enough runs for a win, but picked up two wickets in the last over.
Eli Snyman of St John's bowls out Dean Peall of Peterhouse

Earlier St John’s had started their chase of 156 well, scoring 21 runs without loss in the first two overs. Jason Murray’s team however, slowed down after the powerplay when Peterhouse spread their field. Peall was a hero as well as a villain in Peterhouse’s attack. The pace bowler failed to stop a couple of easy balls in the field that went all the way to the boundary and bowled four No Balls. However, Peall made up for his mistakes by picking up four crucial wickets. Such a comeback feat takes an awful lot of courage, as well as great team chemistry at schoolboy level.

St John’s skipper, Murray was bowled out leg before wicket after scoring 19 runs, including a six and two fours. Eli Snyman added runs on the board for St John’s and looked set to be the hero for his team but Peall’s accurate bowling took him out with 37 runs. Welch and Locke scored 23 and 18 respectively while King scored 26.

Peterhouse captain, Daniel Moolman gave credit to all his boys, claiming that it was a team effort that saw them defend their title. “Everyone played their part in the field and Campbell Saul had a great knock batting through the 20 overs. We knew that if we built pressure, they were going to go for the big shots and it’s a very big boundary and the wind was coming in as well. Gadzikwa’s bowling at the end was just something else”.

In the first innings Peterhouse scored a total of 155/3 after 20 overs, a score that many did not anticipate given that St John’s had bowled out Peterhouse for 68 on Saturday. The St John’s sports director, Ross Nel did concede though that it was a new day and there was a lot more pressure on the young lads in the final. Saul top scored for the Marondera team with 57 runs not out. Snyman, Hopper and Snatter picked up a Peterhouse wicket each.
Jason Murray congratulates Peterhouse

Murray reminded the crowds why Zimbabwean schools sport is the best when he led his team in congratulating Peterhouse for the win, straight after the match. The camaraderie and sportsmanship was top notch throughout the weekend with the team spirit award being shared by Prince Edward and Falcon College

http://frontrowzim.com/fr/peterhouse-re ... t20-title/

Hellenic Enjoys Dream Debut At The CABS T20 Tourney

Taking part in their first ever CABS T20 tournament at St George’s College, Hellenic have achieved a lot more than a lot of people expected.

The school has it’s first stream of upper sixes this year hence it is their first year to have 18 year olds as part of their first team. Their performance in the last cricket season earned them an invite to the prestigious CABS T20 tournament. The greek school made it all the way to finals where they lost to St Andrew’s College of Grahamstown in South Africa. En route to the plate final Hellenic played another visiting team, Kingswood College, knocking them out in the plate semi-final.

During the pool stages Hellenic also registered a win against St John’s College, a school that has been vital in their development. Despite losing to St Andrew’s in the plate final, Hellenic’s lower six student, Kyle Van Leeuwen won two awards for his batting throughout the weekend.

Van Leeuwen hit 25 sixes from Friday through to Sunday to clinch the Most Sixes award as well as the “Best Batsman” award donated by former Zimbabwe international Stuart Carlisle of Absolute Sports. Patrick Mambo, from Hellenic as well, was runner up for the “Best all rounder” award which was won by Jeremy Ives of St George’s College. Mambo was also the highest top scoring batsmen in a match with his 109 runs scored against the visiting St Benedict’s College. In that match, Mambo hit 11 fours and 8 sixes. The duo of Mambo and Van Leeuwen also recorded the highest partnership of the weekend posting 190 runs against St Benedict’s College.

Going forward, Hellenic are likely to enjoy a successful cricket season this coming third term. Head coach, Moses Chitare and Under 16 coach, Chris Fourie are now left with the task of grooming yet another competitive Hellenic side for next year.

http://frontrowzim.com/fr/hellenic-enjo ... 0-tourney/

[Googly]

Googly, is rural cricket non-existent now? Or are there still pockets of white farmers playing social matches?

Haha, you've made my day!!
Pockets of white farmers?? I sincerely doubt, and I'm not joking, that there are not enough farmers in any one area to play a social game of doubles tennis (including the wives). Neither is there a single remaining cricket field in any farming district that I am aware of. There's a club pitch in Kadoma, Kwekwe, Mutare, a couple in the lowveld, a couple in Bulawayo, can't think of much else. I'll get back to u on this. There are absolutely no white farming communities left anywhere and all the old farm clubs are a thing of the past. Again I'll find out but doubt there are more than 200 farmers scattered countrywide. 99% of them live in an adjacent town and will visit their farms during the week or they are at risk. Chivhu used to have 400 farmers, there are now 4. Karoi now has about ten whites, but don't think more than 2 or 3 have farms, most are involved in small scale mining, Chinhoyi has about 20 families (but barely any farm), and so on and so forth. I don't think there are more than 50 white kids in any of the smart farming community schools that were built, with the exception of Lomagundi, Peter House, Springvale and Ruzawi which are old boarding schools. Maybe there's 800 white kids at these schools?

[eugene]

Googly, in your experience is the white exodus still continuing or has it slowed down over the last 5 years? I know you have said the white population is about 20,000 which seems hard to believe but you would know better than I.