Zimbabwe schools - Lilfordia Cricket 1999

Lilfordia Cricket 1999

By Mr Iain Campbell

As the cognoscenti never tire of repeating, cricket is a game played largely 'in the mind' and confidence levels tend to have a large bearing on performance. Lilfordia was fortunate enough to have a competent coaching contingent in place almost from the moment it began to compete on the inter-school circuit (1969), and as a result with the coming of independence in 1980 was in a position to capitalise upon an increased enrolment.

Which said, it remains, with Bryden Country School, quite significantly the smallest of the reputable cricketing establishments (with a total of only about 100 boys across all seven grades) but continues to feature prominently because although many of its numerically superior rivals have long since caught up in terms of technical proficiency, the aura of Lilfordian predominance lingers on in the minds of both the home players and those of the opposition.

As must happen in any single-stream co-ed school periodically, 1999 was a particularly lean year for cricket talent. There were just 12 boys in the Grade 7 class and only three of these had any real pretensions as players. Nor (as usual) were there any of those robust over-agers who feature so prominently so often among the ranks of the opposition. An overall record of Played 23, Won 13, Drawn 4, Lost 6 was therefore not only acceptable but somewhat surprising, and due in some part, one felt, to that psychological factor, opponents filing to realise just how vulnerable this particular Lilfordia XI was.

Four boys (the three Grade 7s and a Grade 6 lad) gained selection for a less formidable than normal Mashonaland West squad to participate in the annual inter-provincial tournament, but for the first time since 1987 no Lilfordian appeared in the national Partridges XI chosen at the end of the Week. Alistair Holman (captain) and George Piers were, however, named in the B side to confront one of the two South African teams participating in the festival, and earlier n the term this pair had maintained Lilfordia's stranglehold on the Mashonaland Country Districts West Cricket Association Double-Wicket Shield.

A semi-final berth in the Mashonaland Knockout Competition was probably a trifle fortuitous (a kindly draw) but third place in the Rydings Festival may have been one down from expectations due to a less than lucky spin of the revolving batting order format of the competition. All of this amounted to a track record only slightly below par on paper, an eventuality which may have owed its realisation in some measure, as has been implied, to a reputation which causes opposing teams to proceed with caution when confronting Lilfordia.

Prospects for the future are reasonably optimistic. The Colts A XI were beaten only twice during the course of 1999, one of these losses being sustained in the semi-final of the knockout competition at the hands of the eventual winners, Springvale. Six players from this group will be moving 'upstairs' in 2000, and with five of last year's Grade 6 boys who have had first-eleven experience should form a raw but distinctly promising premier team.

Meanwhile the Colts in turn will be serviced from below, in the main it would seem from a phalanx of under-aged personnel of considerable potential. 2001 could well be a year in which Lilfordia prospers on both levels.

In passing the non-selection of any Lilfordian in the Partridges XI brought to an end a parochial and rather trivial record which had been sustained for several years. This was the annual presence of at least one Lilfordia product in each and every national cricket team. For 1999 we had:

Test XI: A Campbell

ODI side: A Campbell, T Madondo

Board XI: T Madondo, D Campbell, B Watambwa

Under-19s: G Croxford, C Brewer

Under-16s: M Waller (capt)

Under-14s: G Manchip, B Taylor, G Ziegler

- but then fell at the final hurdle.