The first round of the Logan Cup competition was badly affected by rain, as was predictable. The match in Mutare was abandoned without a ball being bowled, amid some controversy, as is outlined so well by Nigel Fleming in his Manicaland report. The match between Mashonaland A and Matabeleland at the usually well-drained Alexandra Sports Club did not get very fair either.

Remarkably a result was possible in the match between Mashonaland and the CFX Academy at Harare Sports Club, thanks to an agreement between the two captains. The match was played on the second square on the main field, which may have been significant, as the boundary was moved and the parts most affected by the regular doses of rain were outside it. A declaration and two forfeitures took place before play in the third morning, setting the Academy a target that was certainly very difficult for them in view of the prevailing batting conditions and their own inexperience. Captain Terrence Duffin, director Gwynne Jones and coach Dave Houghton must all take credit for their positive approach, when they would have been quite justified in refusing to consider a target that favoured Mashonaland.

As was sadly predictable, the local authorities in Harare did not consider this match worth promoting. It should be Zimbabwe's premier domestic competition. It is first-class cricket as far as the records go, and it deserves first-class treatment. But there was no advertising of the match, no effort to draw in the public or invite schoolchildren to attend. There are two scoreboards on the ground. Neither was in operation at the start of play. It took the efforts of third umpire Graham Gilmour to get a member of the ground staff to work the smaller one, which supplies details only of the total, wickets down, overs and last man. In most, if not all, other countries of the world, to hold a first-class match without a decent, detailed scoreboard in operation would be considered a disgrace. That is just what it is.

There were a few spectators, mainly on the Sunday, the final day, but obviously the local administrators consider these to be an unnecessary ingredient. Spectators, especially children, want to know who is batting and who is bowling, and what the batsmen's scores are. At this match the few that attended had no way of finding out. Promoting domestic cricket is not easy in any country these days, unless it is a one-day slog-about, but in Zimbabwe it appears that nobody tries.

PLEASE DON'T CONTACT ME . . .

I often get e-mails from people asking me to pass on messages to players or asking about Zimbabwe shirts or kit or memorabilia. Please don't. I cannot do this easily and I do not have the time. Such queries should be made to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (zcu@mweb.co.zw).

E-MAIL PROBLEMS

I apologize if some readers have sent me e-mails during the past week that have been unanswered, or even returned to the sender. I have had a serious e-mail breakdown that has still not been rectified. If you had a problem, please send it again – as long as it is not a message to the players or a query about kit! The same applies to all contributors whose articles have been sent but do not appear here – there are probably several of them. If my normal e-mail address still will not work, try sending it to me instead at: cricj@zol.co.zw.

THIS WEEK

We have several biographies included this week, notably that of Hamilton Masakadza, who became not only the first Zimbabwean black player to score a first-class century but also the youngest player of any colour to do so. He is 17 years old, still at school, and scored two centuries on the Under-19 tour to South Africa, a report on which is belatedly included in this issue. His two team-mates at Churchill High School are Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Matsikenyeri, and all three could make a major impact on Zimbabwe cricket over the next few years. It would be wonderful if they do.

We also include biographies of three Academy players, to follow that of Ryan Butterworth last week: Terrence Duffin, Matthew Townshend and Wisdom Siziba. The other Academy players will also be included over the next few weeks.

Other articles include interviews with Eddo Brandes about his recent visit to Australia as leader of a tour group, and with Doug Marillier about his remarkable last-over feats against Glenn McGrath in that exciting one-day international against Australia. On the statistical side, we include full Test and one-day international career details of Alistair Campbell, together with updated Test match averages for the season.

This weekend the Zimbabwe Board XI are in East London for their final three-day and one-day matches against Border in the UCBSA Bowl competition. They will be hoping to clinch first place in their division in both competitions, which would lead to play-offs against the winners in the other division. Success there could bring the greatly desired promotion to the top division of South African cricket, which would be a tremendous boost for the game in Zimbabwe – if the UCBSA will allow it. We will include coverage of that in our next issue.

© Cricinfo