Old Hararians Sports Club have retained the Zimbabwe national club first league championship in a very close finish, beating Kwekwe last weekend to complete the job. It was not the most clear-cut of championships, as they were one of four teams with six victories, but picked up the extra points with two abandoned matches. Captain Trevor Penney spoke to John Ward about his club's season.

It is perhaps a little surprising that, with their reported problems over the captaincy in the last few seasons, Warwickshire have not considered Trevor Penney. Trevor is most highly rated in Zimbabwe, and his success with Old Hararians Sports Club is proof of his ability to lead an enthusiastic and successful team.

This is the third year that Old Hararians have won the first league and this time they had to do it without their international players. Usually the competition is played when the Test players are available, but this season they have been on an extended tour of India, Australia and New Zealand. All-rounders Bryan Strang (who will be delighted to be so designated) and Dirk Viljoen have missed almost the entire programme, and the injured Paul Strang has also played very little, but the club has survived the loss of these key players.

The team had a poor season in the Vigne Cup, the competition for the Mashonaland clubs, with Trevor himself injured and four players often missing due to call-ups for the Zimbabwe Board XI. So for virtually all the season the club has been running on reserve strength, although theirs is not a unique handicap.

"But it's not all bad," says Trevor, "because when we're away the schoolboys from Prince Edward, Lomagundi and Eaglesvale are able to play. So it gives them experience in the first team. I don't mind losing in the Vigne Cup because at least it's bringing young players through. But in December and January we've had the B team players back, and since then we've all gelled again. We've beaten teams quite convincingly."

The team's only defeat in the national league was against Alexandra Sports Club, who also had six victories but finished fourth. They will be Old Hararians' opponents in the semi-final next weekend. This was a close match right at the start of the season when Trevor was still in England. He returned to find his team at the bottom of both the league table and the Vigne Cup. There were also two abandoned matches, against Old Georgians, who finished fifth with five victories, and Queens, who finished second, so perhaps there was a little luck involved here. Trevor's attitude is, "They would both have been good games, so it was unfortunate."

The most satisfying victory, he feels, was that over Mutare. Greg Lamb was away and the team was so weakened that the top four or five players were all 17-year-old schoolboys. "They got about 180 on a slow low wicket and we were about 30 for five at one stage. It looked like that would have been the league gone for us, but we ended up winning with six down, so I was really pleased with that." Trevor does not mention until pressed his own unbeaten ninety, helped by Gary Brent who made an invaluable 48. This inspired his team with confidence: "From then on everyone thought, `We can win the league now; we're not going to lose another game,' and we didn't."

Running it close was the win over Universals, where Trevor and Dirk Viljoen shared a marvellous partnership to win the match, both recording centuries, to record 280 after another bad start.

Trevor was available for six of the nine league matches, two of which were rained off. In his absence Gary Brent took over the leadership. "I think he had a really tough job with 17-year-olds who had come from school, their fielding is not quite up to scratch, but they're all coming through and getting runs now. They have won us the last two games, youngsters like Conan Brewer and Ryan Butterworth, and are all playing well. I've got a good young bowler there, Nyasha Chari, who's coming to the Academy next year.

When complimented on his own excellent batting form, Trevor says, "It's always nice coming back and having a break. Then when you play again you're really eager to play."

Trevor has a bit to say about the players in his team. "Normally our openers have been Ryan Butterworth and young Nikil Chauhan. Then we've had Colin Delport, who has been a regular for us for the last few years and it coming on very nicely; he's just left the Academy. We've got Greg Lamb, who's a very good prospect for the future, then myself, Paul Strang and Gary Brent – who has just started to bowl well again so hopefully he will get a bit of recognition now as he has been out in the dark the last six months, from the national team to no cricket.

"Then we have Nyasha Chari, who bowls steady medium-quicks with a good action. We've got Sean Ervine who has played in the last three games; he's very good and if he carries on the way he's going he'll be in the national side, I'm sure. Raymond Price played in the Vigne Cup, but they sent him to Kwekwe so he didn't play in the national league, which is a bit upsetting – it's one of those things. Piet Rinke is from Eaglesvale, and he's a bowler and a big hitter, a good young cricketer, only 18 years old. Conan Brewer will captain Prince Edward this year, I think; he got a fifty for us this week against Kwekwe, opening the batting and playing very well.

"So it's very nice, a mixture of youth and mainly the guys who have played in the B side for the last year or two. Plus Strangy and myself, who have played lots of cricket."

Trevor feels that, when their full side is available, the bowling is their strongest department. "We have Gary Brent, Sean Ervine, Nyasha Chari, Piet Rinke, Paul Strang and Greg Lamb, who bowls off-spin. But we have some very solid batsmen in the middle order – Lamb, Strang, Brent, Delport and myself, coming down a bit lower. So if we do lose early wickets we normally consolidate enough to win the game. It's very enjoyable."

How has the lethal Old Hararians pitch been playing? It has a reputation for slowness and uneven bounce. "Very good," says Trevor. "It's been good the last few weeks. In the last three games at OH we've lost the toss and the visitors have batted, and the sides have only got 130, 140 and 170. I think if we had batted first we'd have got 240 or 250 – it's a good wicket."

What are Trevor's plans for himself in the immediate future. "I'm still enjoying coaching here for the ZCU," he says. "We're top of both leagues for the B side [in the UCBSA competition] and we've got the remainder of our games coming up in the next month. If we win those we stay top of the league and play two lots of finals in March. I'm looking forward to that first and foremost. We're really training hard. If we win both the leagues, we can say, `Look, it's too easy for us,' and push for promotion.

"I'm training lots now every day to get fit again for the county season. I've got a three-year contract there, so that will take me to 35, and we'll see where I'm going from there."

And after his county career is over? "I've always wanted to come back here. I've enjoyed my cricket in England – it's been 13 years already, so it will be 16 by the end of my contract. Then we'll just see which way the country is going then; like everybody, I'm just waiting. If I'm still enjoying it, I may try to get another contract somehow, with Warwickshire or another county."

Trevor Penney's contribution to Zimbabwean cricket is by no means over. He chose a county career and burned his boats as long as Zimbabwean representation was concerned at a time when Test cricket for the country looked unlikely, but unlike Graeme Hick he has faithfully returned to put back a great deal into the country that gave him his start. He deserves better than a mere county career, but he accepts his situation without undue regret and will continue to enjoy cricket in tow countries for some time yet.

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