Manicaland cricket report

Takashinga return to Murare Sports Club this Sunday - three weeks after their day of infamy - to contest the semi-finals of the league knockout competition. Awaiting the outcome of a ZCU disciplinary hearing set for Thursday 21 February for their conduct during the earlier game, this match should provide compulsive viewing for the Mutare public. Spectators are advised to keep clear of war zones this time - in the last game Odzi farmer Logie Slabbert and his wife Estelle were relaxing in deck chairs near the boundary rope when a Takashinga fielder pursued a ball over the top of Estelle, smashing chairs and bodies everywhere. Reality TV would have paid handsomely for copyrights. Missing the reliable all-rounder Richie Sims and three Test stars, Manicaland are wobbling and vulnerable after losing their Logan Cup game against CFX Academy last weekend.

Alan Walsh - the umpire at the centre of the storm in the previous game - is away on leave, so Manicaland Umpires Chairman Kevan Barbour has requested a `neutral' umpire to drive down from Harare for the game. His concern is that numbers will plummet in his association if he asks members to stand in volatile `unprotected' games of this nature. That it has come to this is unfortunate but reflects the times in which we live. There will be substantial financial rewards at stake for the winner - another factor likely to increase on-field tension.

Losing with four sessions to spare in the four-day game last weekend, Manicaland will need to dig deep to stay with Takashinga. Positives are the form of captain Neil Ferreira and the returning form of left-arm seamer Justin Lewis. Ferreira hit 106 (14 fours) and Kingsley Went 57 in Manicaland's first innings. Andre Soma and Tino Mawoyo managed just 30 runs between them in four innings - a disappointing return for batsmen of such obvious quality. After a first-innings failure Naeem Sheth top-scored (40) in the second after recovering from a clash of heads with Mawoyo as the pair converged on a catch in the CFX second innings.

Happiest man on the field for all three days was pint-sized twelfth man Marvin Vogel. A 16-year-old leg-spinner from Mutare Boys High, his enthusiasm whilst rushing drinks or equipment onto the field was enjoyed by everyone. His best moment came at Friday midday when Naeem Sheth left the field to attend prayers at the local Mosque - an hour's uninterrupted fielding in first-class cricket.

Adiel Kugotsi was another to have a quiet game. Managing only 10 runs in two innings with bowling figures of 3-0-16-0, his moment of glory came early in CFX's first innings when he effected a stunning direct throw run-out from the covers. In his O-level year at Mutare Boys High, he hopes to earn a living one day from cricket.

There was excitement off the field on Saturday afternoon when security guards employed by the cricket association apprehended a suit-wearing thief in the process of removing a pair of track shoes from the change rooms. Unlike the other first-class grounds in the country, Mutare Sports Club is not security fenced and occasionally plays host to unusual visitors.