COACHING

The committee under the chairmanship of Justice Ahmed Ebrahim consists of representatives from each province, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the CFX Academy. It meets every six weeks and each member forwards a copy of his report to the ZCU one week before the due date of the meeting.

The main aims of the committee are as follows:

1. To spread the game to all corners of the country;

2. To improve the standard of the age-group teams' performances in South Africa;

3. To organize cricket coaching courses to upgrade coaching standards in schools and clubs;

4. To maintain the progress and work of all coaches employed by the ZCU;

5. To seek out the most talented children for specialized coaching.

In charge is Mr Shane Cloete, who with Mr Dawson Musekwa (ex-Churchill School headmaster) patrols the country to assess facilities, the use of coaches and possible areas for development. We have some 41 full-time coaches established throughout the country, with five more on probation and three employed part-time.

In addition we purchase and receive donations of cricket kit, assess the needs of schools and clubs and parcel out the kit. Recently we spent Z$300 000 on locally produced bats and rubber balls to provide the basics of cricket, mainly in township and rural schools.

The committee's job is also to use the contracted players as much as possible to coach selected squads, holiday cricket and squads of excellence.

FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT

1. Community projects:

a) Mabvuku. The cricket field was officially opened by the president of the ZCU, Mr Peter Chingoka, on 8 October 2000. The official opening was witnessed by the member of parliament for Mabvuku and Tafara, and the managing director of Circle Cement. The development field comprises an Astroturf centre pitch and five Astroturf practice areas, and will serve nine primary and two secondary schools in the area. Circle Cement is a strong partner in this worthy development.

b) Highfield. ZCU has set aside the sum of Z$1.3 million for this project. Five Astroturf practice nets have been erected and a turf centre pitch is being constructed. A Durawall has been erected to secure the facility and municipal water has been connected to the ground. A club house will soon be built. This will be the home of Old Winstonians Cricket Club which is now playing in the national first league. When completed the field will serve more than five high schools and eleven primary schools.

c) Emakhandeni. A comprehensive project proposal with a phased development has been received. Z$3 million has been released and work on Phase One is already in progress. The objective of this community development is to improve and sustain the standard of cricket in the western suburbs of Bulawayo.

Other projects earmarked for development are as follows:

1. Rimuka in Kadoma
2. Gweru Sports Club
3. Redcliff Sports Club
4. Mutare Centre of Excellence
5. Masvingo Centre of Excellence

2. Schools:

a) Harare. A comprehensive survey of the facilities and needs of primary and secondary schools in Highfield and Glenview has been completed. The construction of one centre pitch and four practice nets at each of the secondary schools is to start soon. One centre pitch and three practice nets will be built for each of the primary schools identified. We are resurrecting cricket at a number of former Group A primary and secondary schools in Harare South, Harare East, Harare North and Harare Central.

b) Bulawayo. Two high schools, namely Mpopoma and Milton, have been earmarked for development in our first phase. We will build one centre pitch and four practice nets at each of the schools. A total of four primary schools in the western suburbs have also been identified for development in our first phase, and we will build one centre pitch and three practice nets at each.

c) Other centres. The provision of facilities will extend to schools in the Midlands, Masvingo and Manicaland areas in the second phase of facilities development.

RESULTS

Primary and Secondary Schools: 276 primary schools in the disadvantaged areas with a total population of 16 800 play cricket. 87 high schools with a population of 5 220 boys play cricket.

Scholarships: The Zimbabwe Cricket Union sponsors 60 secondary school students at a total cost of Z$1.5 million a year, Z$13 000 per boarder per term and $5 000 per boy per term.

National teams: Mluleki Nkala, Tatenda Taibu, Trevor Madondo and David Mutendera are members of the national team. Douglas Hondo and Alester Maregwede are in the national A side, knocking on the door of the national side.

A number of scholarship boys have represented the country at various age groups: Kudakwashe Samunderu (Under-14), Tinashe Ruswa and Kudzai Taibu (Under-16) and Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Tatenda Taibu, Blessing Mawire and Charles Coventry (Under-19).

CLUBS

We have 13 development clubs in high-density suburbs playing cricket. One of them, Winstonians Cricket Club, is in the national first league and six other clubs play cricket at various competitive levels, while the other six just play social matches.

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