Midlands cricket report

It is less than three weeks until the official start of the internal cricket season and teams in the Midlands Province are gearing up for an all-out assault on the first and second leagues, as well as the North and South Zone leagues.

Last year was the first year that Kwekwe Sports Club competed in the first League and although they would have liked to have finished higher in the league, by and large they performed admirably. The highlight of their season was beating Old Georgians in Kwekwe.

This year the Kwekwe team is hoping to do much better with the inclusion of three more academy graduates; namely, Terrence Duffin, Campbell Macmillan and Sean Ervine. The Kwekwe side has also been approached by a few other players who are part of the national team, but are still waiting for clearance.

Kwekwe will still retain the services of Doug Marillier and Ray Price who were the first academy graduates, along with John Vaughan-Davies, Doug Hondo and Travis Friend. Colin Delport has moved to Kwekwe so he will be another very important inclusion in the Kwekwe side as a quality wicket keeper.

The Kwekwe Sports Club side will be captained for the second year by the evergreen Dave Houghton, who as always will provide invaluable experience to the side. The only problem the side will have this year is that many of the names mentioned above have represented Zimbabwe at national or Board level and many of them maybe away for a large part of the season.

The Kwekwe second team will this year be playing in the national second league, which again is a first for the club from the Midlands. The second team is likely to be made up of many veterans as well as some aspiring players from the Kwekwe area.

With the Zimbabwe Cricket Union restructuring the leagues, Kwekwe Queens will be playing their cricket in the North Zone league. Kwekwe Queens did very well last season and they are tipped for honours this season. They have a few new recruits who are expected to strengthen the side.

It is pleasing to report that Gweru will for the first time be entering a side into the National South Zone League. In Gweru they have a number of very enthusiastic players who will be tough opponents for any side they meet. From a development point of view it is encouraging to see Gweru once again getting involved on a national level.

The Midlands Cricket Association are embarking on an extensive development programme in line with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's development scheme. Emmanuel Musara, who is the Town Clerk of the City of Kwekwe and sits on the Midlands Cricket Board responsible for High Density Development, has indicated that already some ground has been identified in Mbizo High-Density Suburb for the development of a cricket oval. It is hoped that this ground will be ready by next season.

On Saturday 15 September history was made when for the first time two development teams played against each other at the Kwekwe Sports Club. The game between Redcliff and Christian Brothers Cricket Club, from Mbizo, was very competitive but played with great spirit and respect. Due to a transport problem and one of the teams arriving late the game was reduced to 20 overs.

Redcliff batted first and posted a respectable total of 101 after their allotted 20 overs. C.B.C.C started off positively but soon lost their way after some great bowling by the Redcliff side, eventually being all out for 61.

The two umpires for the day were Ken Connelly and Colin Sanders who are the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Midlands Cricket Association, and both were very impressed with what they saw. Ken Connelly presented a new bat to the Redcliff Chairman for their efforts in winning the game.