About the Zimbabwe Cricket Union
A Brief History
It is believed that the first cricket match staged in what was
then known as Rhodesia took place on August 16th, 1890 near Fort
Victoria. By the mid 1890s the principal match of the season was
Salisbury v Bulawayo. In 1898/99 Lord Hawke's Team came to play
two matches in Bulawayo, this being the first visit by an English
cricket team to Rhodesia. In the first years of the 20th century,
J.D.Logan presented a cup for competition amongst the towns in
Rhodesia and in 1904/05
Rhodesia sent a team to Johannesburg to oppose Transvaal in the
Currie Cup Competition. Transvaal won by an innings and 170 runs.
The first M.C.C. touring side travelled to South Africa in
1905/06, but did not play in Rhodesia; similarly the second
M.C.C. team of 1909/10 failed to make a visit, but at the end of
that tour Leveson-Gower persuaded three of his M.C.C. touring
colleagues, together with seven South African players, to journey
to Rhodesia and play games at Bulawayo, Gwelo and Salisbury.
After being defeated at Bulawayo in the first game, the
Rhodesians gave a much better account of themselves in the match
at Salisbury.
Between the two World Wars the standard of cricket in Rhodesia
continued to rise and the country took part in a number of Currie
Cup Tournaments, as well as having regular visits from touring
sides. After 1946 regular Currie Cup competition produced several
Rhodesian Test players for
South Africa.
Zimbabwe was elected an Associate member of the ICC on July
23rd, 1981 and in 1983 achieved a famous victory over Australia
in the
World
Cup.On October 18th, 1992 India came to Harare to play
Zimbabwe in the
first
Test involving the home country. The organising of the
Logan
Cup as a domestic first-class competition is a logical
further step in the progress of Zimbabwean cricket.
The Zimbabwe Cricket Union is as active as ever in 2001-02.
The people in the ZCU
aim to see Zimbabwean cricket thrive and
grow throughout the community.
Article by John
Ward, from Zimbabwe First-Class
Matches
1993-94 a
publication of the Association of
Cricket Statisticians