Sky Safaris supports cricket development in Zimbabwe

Sky Safaris Press release

At a brief ceremony, last Sunday, Sky Safaris presented Mr Danny Stannard, chairman of ZCU Tours, with $30000 worth of cricket pads, for use in cricket development.

This presentation was made during lunch at a fun cricket day of "Zimbabwe against the Rest of the World", where a team of local, social cricketers took on a team of foreigners and expatriates, at Country Club in Harare. In his acceptance speech, on behalf of the ZCU and Justice Ebrahim, chairman of coaching, Mr Stannard said,

"The development programme is beginning to bear fruit. Look at the CFX Academy to see the numbers of youngsters coming through. Look at those being selected to represent the national and `A' teams. There is plenty of untapped talent out there merely waiting to be `developed'."

As the official Tour Operator of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, Sky Safaris also showed their support of cricket in Zimbabwe by donating some of the money raised through the English Cricket Supporters Tour covering the recent One Day International matches between Zimbabwe and England. This tour was very successful, as expressed by one of the English supporters, "The tour has been really great and Sky Safaris a superb host. One of the highlights of this trip was seeing the Victoria Falls and obviously we are delighted with the performance of our cricket team."

Sky Safaris has been actively supporting Zimbabwean Cricket for five years. Last year, Sky Safaris, in association with Zimbabwe Sun Hotels, donated a two-week trip around Zimbabwe, for two couples, to be auctioned at a function held in Perth, Australia. John Traicos and SABC of Western Australia organized this function. John Traicos, remembered for managing Leopard Rock Hotel and being a cricket player for Zimbabwe and the Springboks, moved to Perth 2 years ago, but still remains a loyal supporter of Zimbabwean Cricket. The function was attended by over 300 people and the auctioning of this trip raised Au$ 7000 for cricket development in Zimbabwe. The couples that won the tour are former Zimbabwean cricketer, Jack Heron and his wife, and Mr & Mrs Langer, parents of current Australian Test Cricketer, Justin Langer. They are expected in Zimbabwe in April this year.

Sky Safaris also sponsored two 3rd league Mashonaland development cricket teams in the recently ended season, with cricket equipment, clothing, finances and transport. One of these teams managed to secure a tied 2nd place in the league.

A Director of Sky Safaris, Mr Rob Bailey, said of Cricket development in Zimbabwe, "If Zimbabwe is to become a major force in world cricket, we need to develop cricket at grass-roots level. Sky Safaris is proud to be assisting the ZCU in their development programme."

Mr Stannard finished by saying, " On behalf of Peter Chingoka, President of the ZCU, Justice Ebrahim of coaching and myself, I would like to say a very big thank you to Sky Safaris, represented by Rob, Brian and Kevin Bailey, Mike Sherren and others, for such a magnificent donation. I can assure you it will assist greatly in our development programme."