CFX ACADEMY MEDIA OPEN DAY

The CFX Academy held a Media Open Day on the morning of Monday 29 April, which was attended by ten local media representatives, including CricInfo and one pressman each from Bulawayo and Mutare.

The morning began with refreshments at ten o'clock, and was followed by a welcome from administration manager Temba Mkhosana. He followed this with a brief history of the Academy, the brainchild of Dave Houghton, and a video of the South African SuperSport programme Extra Cover, which showed Mike Haysman interviewing Houghton about the Academy.

Mr Mkhosana then went into more detail about the history and the function of the Academy. It opened on a wing and a prayer in 1999, most of the money coming as the result of Houghton's sponsored walk from Bulawayo to Harare the previous year, which raised public awareness as well as money.

There followed a question time and tour of the Academy facilities and the house where the students live, 100 metres from the ground. Finally the media were able to observe a practice session run by Eddo Brandes, who has taken over as head coach from Dave Houghton, and speak to some of the students.

Below are some extracts from the Media Pack produced for the day.

HISTORY OF CFX CRICKET ACADEMY

The CFX cricket Academy in Zimbabwe was established by Dave Houghton who raised the initial capital with his sponsored walk from Bulawayo to Harare which took 22 days in June 1999 and raised over Z$900 000.

The CFX Cricket Academy is a non-profit organization funded by the community at large and the business community in particular. A fully equipped pavilion with state-of-the-art presentation facilities is complete. The ground has been upgraded and now has a wicket that the New Zealanders described as the best wicket they had played on. Bob Woolmer, on a recent coaching visit, commented that the Academy's facilities were among the best he had seen anywhere in the world.

The initial set-up of six all-weather nets with floodlights, three turf nets and three cricket cages were included in the original capital budget. The CFX Cricket Academy falls under the umbrella of the governing body, ZCU, who have helped with the capital start-up costs and have also purchased a house for the students to live in whilst they attend the Academy.

The name `CFX Cricket Academy' is derived from our main sponsor, CFX, who have committed themselves to sponsor the Academy up to the next World Cup in 2003. Joining CFX are individuals and businesses who are approached to sponsor the CFX Cricket Academy and who are identified by boundary board advertising around the cricket ground which is at Country Club.

The other large source of support is directed at individual student sponsorship of $100 000 a year, and the CFX Cricket Academy is indebted to its longstanding sponsors. There is both plenty of scope for new sponsors who are interested in supporting the development of cricket among the youth of Zimbabwe and gaps around the boundary for their advertising boundary boards!

For two years, students of the CFX Cricket Academy spent their winter attached to cricket clubs in the UK. This has proved to be an invaluable experience for the students who have come from diverse backgrounds. Candidates have been selected from all walks of life and from urban and rural centres. There have been representatives from Bulawayo, Chivhu, Chitungwiza, Gweru, Harare, Karoi, Mhangura, Norton, Ruwa and Selous, from both high-density and low-density areas.

Judging by the number of students who have been selected for both the national and the Zimbabwe A sides, the principle of selecting students on merit has proven successful. The most recent CFX Cricket Academy ambassadors in the public eye include Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Gary Brent, Douglas Marillier and Travis Friend, who has firmly established his position in the national side. Since its inception CFX cricket Academy has been responsible for the training of several students who have been selected for both the national and A sides.

The CFX cricket Academy itself has played most of the touring international sides, including New Zealand, Bangladesh, India and West Indies, the most notable performance being a four-run loss toe West Indies in a nail-biting finish watched by about 2000 supporters.

Our major objective is to produce players of international calibre and also to promote the development of the game in the remotest corners of our country. We rely heavily on companies to sponsor cricket through us by student sponsorship, boundary board advertising and donations.

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Mr Gwynne Jones left the Academy to take up a post with Scottish cricket at the end of 2001 and since then a new team has been engaged to run the affairs of the Academy. Unfortunately we have also just lost the services of the founder of this Academy, Mr David Laud Houghton, who has decided to move to England for a short while. The new structure is as follows:

Head Coach: Eddo Brandes Administration Manager: Temba Mkhosana Assistant Coach: Walter Chawaguta Batting Coach: Alistair Campbell Secretary: Anthea Reeler Bookkeeper: Trish Hawkes Fitness Trainer: Steve Scott Psychology Consultant: Graham Prior Marketing Agent: Jacky White

To assist the above team and map out the policies of the CFX Cricket Academy is a Management Committee that also includes the Administration Manager and Secretary.

Chairman: Ray Gripper CFX Bureaux de Change: Kevin Butler Finance: Zed Rusike ZCU Board Member (i/c Development): Mac Dudhia Marketing: Pip Maxwell and Craig Anticevich

The Academy year is now set to run from February to September, after which the students will be posted to the five major provinces in Zimbabwe – Masvingo included from 2002/03 season - to play and coach. The aim is to prepare the students to be good citizens as well as sportsmen, and therefore the curriculum includes subjects not directly connected with the game. The booklet lists six areas: sports management, cricket studies, physical development, sports psychology, sports medicine and injury prevention, and life skills. The programme includes several sessions on studying other cultures, mainly African and Asian.

After the students leave at the end of September, the Academy facilities will be available for the junior age-group sides, the Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19s, to prepare for their annual visit to South Africa at the end of the year.

There is also recognition of the need to work together with other academies and countries involved in cricket development. It is hoped to offer Academy places to students from Kenya, Namibia and possibly Zambia in future years. There is also the possibility of hosting foreign age-group teams during the end-of-year period.

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