U16 CRICKET INTER-PROVINCIAL FESTIVAL 1 - 5 APRIL 2002, AT FALCON COLLEGE

Selection

Notification for this tournament was very late and this made selection difficult for two reasons. One, certain boys, who would have been first choice (Pattison, Peretti and Eley), were unavailable due to family holidays. Two, we were unable to organise a full trial. However, after an initial meeting at CBC, the nucleus of a team was formed and the remaining players were chosen at the close of an afternoon's cricket at BAC. Sadly two other key players (Mujuru and Swanepoel) were ruled out through injury and in the event Mukome never arrived at Falcon (at time of writing I have no details relating to this). We had 11 players to take the field but it was hardly the most daunting set of cricketers to line up under the Matabeleland banner. They were going to be severely tested.

General

The tournament was hosted by Falcon College and as the organiser I duck out of concluding whether it was well run or not, but I will say that I was happy with how things went and nothing unforeseen or untoward happened to disrupt the smooth running of the event. I would, however, like to make mention of and thank sincerely Mr Reg Querl, the headmaster, for allowing the cricket to come to Falcon, Mr Ian Johnston, the caterer, and his staff, for providing the meals, Mrs Phyllis Watson, the housekeeper, and her staff, for organising the accommodation, Mr Stewart Coulson, the estate manager, and his staff for preparation of grounds and fields. I also thank Mr Orlando Fernandes for running the bar, Mrs Liz Cumming for the tuck shop and Mrs Lo Simpson for being on stand-by for any injuries and ailments.

The teams involved in the festival were Matabeleland, Mashonaland Country Districts (including Midlands, Manicaland and Masvingo) and two (as it turned out, equal strength) Mashonaland (Harare) sides. The coach and manager for each were Mr Chris Phiri and myself with Matabeleland, Mr Neil Ferreira and Mr George Tandi with MCD, Mr Stanley Timoni and Mr Kevin Igoe with Mashonaland `A' and Mr Walter Chawaguta and Mr Colin Rusere with Mashonaland `B'. Mr Mehluli Sibanda spent the week here to report on the cricket for The Chronicle and Mr Nick Singo, general overseer, from the ZCU, although commuting, was here for the duration. We were a happy team and the week appeared to be well enjoyed by both boys and officials alike. I have some reservations about an Inter Provincial tournament every holiday, but this was undoubtedly a success. I would also like to thank the various parents, particularly the Trethowans, who were there throughout, for their support and encouragement. It is important for players and officials alike.

The matches were `declaration' games but the first side could not bat more than 60 overs and would have to bowl 50 at the side batting second. Incidentally, apart from Matabeleland, the over rates were very poor.

The cricket

DAY ONE : Matabeleland v Mashonaland `B'
Mashonaland won the toss and elected to bat. The openers saw off the new ball bowlers but tight bowling had prevented a flying start and the two change bowlers, Mcingolwane and Kambarami, began to make inroads into the Mashonaland batting. Mcingolwane was particularly accurate and no liberties could be taken with his off cutters. Kambarami's leg spin offered some poor balls but he was also a constant challenge to the batsmen with big turn and good variation of flight and pace. Between them they took 9 of the wickets to fall as Mashonaland were dismissed for 139. It was a very good effort and gave the weak Matabeleland batting line up something possibly within their reach. We made a poor start with 3 wickets down in 10 overs but the innings was rescued with a stand of about 80 between Trethowan and Kambarami at almost a run a ball. Trethowan went and then Kambarami's dismissal began a mini collapse. 132-4 became 136-8. Any result was possible and 4 overs went by with Ndabambi and Mcingolwane digging in and keeping their heads until Ndabambi latched onto a ball with a little width to go over the top for a three to level the scores and 3 balls later Mcingolwane hit the winning runs for a tense 2 wicket victory.

DAY TWO : Matabeleland v Mashonaland Country Districts
Aware of our batting deficiencies we sent MCD in to bat when we won the toss, hoping for a repeat performance of the day before. To all intents and purposes and against all odds, we got one. In a remarkable session before tea MCD were dismissed for 128. Trethowan's accurate and thoughtful seamers earned him 6 wickets, backed up by Ndabambi with 3 but all bowlers played their part in maintaining pressure. After some dropped catches on Day One a number of good ones were held this time, though the ground fielding remained erratic. MCD would never have even reached that total were it not for an outstanding innings by Roland Benade who held the innings together and then cut loose when the ninth wicket fell before being last out. I can have seen few better innings at this level. In reply Matabeleland took the attack to the bowlers. The 100 came up in 20 overs but 6 wickets were down and the tail weak. Phiri, Trethowan and Kambarami had all reached 20 at more than a run a ball but then got out. The last 29 runs were eked out with just one wicket still standing off a full 17 overs. Thompson guided the tail superbly with a mixture of caution, aggression and common sense. It was a match winning innings in another nailbiting finish. No-one could quite believe that Matabeleland had now won 2 matches out of two.

DAY THREE : Matabeleland v Mashonaland `A'
This was arguably the match of the week. Mash `A' won the toss and batted and it looked as though they would bat till tea with 10 wickets in hand. It had been very slow, barely two runs an over, but a solid foundation and liable to frustrate opposition bowlers. Ndabambi nipped in with two late wickets and the scene was set for the second session. Matabeleland was trying to keep it tight while Mashonaland was trying to push the score on. It was good competitive cricket with Mashonaland finally bowled out off the last ball of their 60 overs, Kambarami who had wheeled away commendably for 16 overs before getting a wicket, ending up with 5. He took the plaudits for a fine persevering spell but all bowlers stuck well to their task once again. 175, however, was quite considerably more than anything we had had to chase before. Two wickets fell immediately. Holman and Trethowan regrouped but Trethowan went out just as he was dominating but Kambarami kept momentum going while Holman played sheet anchor. Sadly they were both dismissed in quick succession and the run chase looked beyond us. Mahomed was shaky but played a couple of good shots. Then we were back to Thompson and the tail. Thompson was determined we could still win even with the run rate up to 7 an over but in the end he batted out time, 20 runs short of the target with Fury, the last man, negotiating the last two balls ringed by close catchers.

Results and awards A points system was worked out and the results were as follows :

					P	W	D	L	Bonus		Total
	Matabeleland			3	2	1	0	    3		    12
	Mashonaland Districts		3	1	1	1	    3		    8
	Mashonaland A			3	0	2	0	    1		    4
	Mashonaland B			3	0	1	2	    2		    3

Man of the match awards were made on each day. In the Matabeleland games, Russell Kambarami took the award against both Mashonaland sides, while Paul Trethowan shared it with Roland Benade in the MCD match

At the end of the week other further awards were made. Kambarami unsurprisingly won the Player of the Tournament and also the Best Bowler award.

Individual reports on Matabeleland players
RYAN FURY (C.B.C.) : he was drafted into the team at the last minute but was rather out of his depth. He remained enthusiastic and committed. I trust he will have learnt from the week and put that into action in the Third Term. ALISTAIR HOLMAN (Falcon) : he was not at his best but his bowling was always tidy if not penetrative and only on the third day did he show something of his ability with the bat in an important sheet anchor innings. RUSSELL KAMBARAMI (Falcon) : he was the outstanding player of the tournament and rose to the occasion superbly. He is a very positive batsman and his bowling is always dangerous even if he bowls too many bad balls. I was particularly impressed with his patience and perseverance in the last game. His captaincy v MCD was also promising. TARIQ MOHAMED (C.B.C.) : struggled a little as an opener and also against some good spin bowling when batting lower down the order. His one bowling spell was tight and his fielding generally fine. Captaining on the first day, he was well-organised and positive. NTUTUKO MCINGOLWANE (C.B.C.) : bowled really well on the first day but without reward after that. Perhaps he needs to learn some more variations. He kept his head well when batting on Day One and only got out to difficult deliveries subsequently. His fielding was generally good. NGQABUTHO MDLONGWA (Milton) : arguably was underbowled but he refused to open the bowling on Day One and so let in others and when he did bowl was largely ineffective. He has a good action but actually does little with the ball. He had the honour of hitting the winning run v MCD. He took two good catches but his fielding generally is suspect. EDMORE NDABAMBI (Falcon) : bowled well in short spells and picked up important wickets, often when a breakthrough was required. His batting is limited but held us together at the death v Mash `B'. He also makes too many mistakes as a fielder. SONNY PHIRI (Milton) : has fine attacking shots but at this level of cricket he won't cope until he can learn a more solid defence and some sort of rational shot selection. He is not very alert in the field and doesn't give the impression of reading the game very well. I hope he will have found this week a useful experience from which he can learn. RASEEK SYED (C.B.C.) : battled a little bit. He is determined but his batting defence is suspect. He was probably unlucky to be given out on the first day. He made a few mistakes with his ground fielding but caught well, including the outstanding catch of the tournament against Mashonaland `A'. PETER THOMPSON (C.B.C.) : he is a real fighter and great team man. He sells his wicket dearly and held the lower order together well. His keeping is not great but he did not let us down and his input to bowlers and captain from behind the stumps is important. He never stops thinking. With those attributes, he will go further than many more talented players. PAUL TRETHOWAN (Falcon) : given the opportunity he turned into a fine all-rounder. He bowled well at all stages of an innings and sent in at number 4, made runs in a positive manner each day, though he must learn from getting out twice to bad balls. He also fielded well and made a good fist of captaining the side on the last day despite little or no previous experience. BONAPARTE MUJURU : thanks to him for coming out to score for the side, which he did on the first two days. He was always a cheerful character to have around. Next time we hope to see him on the field of play.

Overall, I was so impressed with the team. Missing most of the `stars' they rose to the occasion magnificently. I said before we began that I would be happy if we scored 100. The key was to bowl the opposition out cheaply and hope to cobble together enough to win and that is just what happened. It was a triumph of old fashioned teamwork, determination and love of the game. They were not the best side but in the event they deserved to win. Very well done! The following is obviously my personal opinion. Thinking to future team selections, I still believe Eley, Peretti, Pattison, Swanepoel, Mujuru and Mukome should be in the side. Kambarami, Trethowan and to a large extent Thompson, Mcinglowane, Holman and Ndabambi cemented their place in the side but I dare to suggest that the others will have to look to their laurels in order to be reselected.

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