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Tuskers hit by injuries, Under-19s return home

By MEHLULI SIBANDA

MATABELELAND Tuskers have been hit by injuries to key players, Sean Williams and Gerald Aliseni ahead of their home Logan Cup cricket match starting at Queens Sports Club on Wednesday.


Tuskers coach Robin Brown said left handed top order batsman Williams picked up an ankle injury and is definitely out of the match against Mountaineers while pace bowler Aliseni has a knee injury and will undergo a fitness test tomorrow to determine whether he is fit enough for the match.
Former captain left handed Terrence Duffin, who has been out of action through injury and Bonaparte Mujuru, are fighting for the slot left by Williams in the top order. Both scored half centuries for Matabeleland B in a two-day match against Midwest Rhinos at Bulawayo Athletic Club two weeks ago.
If Aliseni is ruled out, either Thabo Mboyi or Godwin Mamhiyo would be drafted into the starting line-up.
“I still have hope that we can still finish in second position, we just have to avoid losing matches and get all our bonus points,” said Brown.
Matabeleland Tuskers and Mountaineers have met twice in the Logan Cup this year. In the first match played at Queens Sports Club, Mountaineers won by 204 runs while the second match in Mutare was drawn.
To beat Mountaineers, the Tuskers batting order made up of skipper Gavin Ewing, Keith Dabengwa, Dion Ebrahim, Charles Coventry, Keegan Meth and Gregory Strydom will have to be at its best while the bowlers led by fast bowlers Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Meth and off spinner John Nyumbu has be on top of the game to trouble the Mountaineers’ top order which has the likes of Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Matsikenyeri.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Cricket have not yet begun the process of short-listing candidates for the vacant position of senior national cricket team coach whose closing day for applications was last Thursday.
Ozias Bvute, the ZC managing director said they were awaiting the arrival of its cricket committee chairman Alistair Campbell to return from New Zealand where he had gone to watch the national Under-19 at the International Cricket Council Under-19 Cricket World Cup before going through the applications.
“We have not yet shortlisted any of the candidates; we are waiting for cricket committee chairman Alistair Campbell to arrive from New Zealand on Monday (tomorrow). We are not in a hurry, the process of shortlisting will be complete on 15 February,” said Bvute.
The ZC boss said their main priority at this stage was sending the national team to West Indies at the end of next month.
According to Bvute, Walter Chawaguta would be in charge of the team with bowling coach Heath Streak and coaching consultant David Houghton.
Streak, Grant Flower, Chawaguta, former South African captain Kepler Wessels and former England fast bowler Chris Silverwood are known to have applied for the job.
A new coach has a tough task of preparing the senior national team for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup to be sub-hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
In other cricket news, the Zimbabwe national Under-19 cricket team returns home from the International Cricket Council Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand without even a single victory in the four matches they played.
Zimbabwe, who lost all their three group matches to Canada, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, lost by seven wickets to Ireland through the Duckworth and Lewis method in a match played at Nelson Park in Napier yesterday.
In a match reduced to 27 overs, the Dylon Higgins captained Zimbabwe were all out for just 102 runs in 26,2 overs. So pathetic was their batting that the highest score came from Peter Moor who scored 28 runs while opener Natsai Mushangwe was second best with 24 runs.
Ireland lost three wickets on their way to victory in 20,2 overs.
Despite getting some of the best preparations ever given to the national Under-19s with warm-up matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh, the juniors put up a disappointing show in New Zealand and this has been the worst ever by a Zimbabwe national Under-19 side and raises a lot of questions about the future generation. The coaching capabilities of coach Kevin Curran will also come under heavy scrutiny.

Tuskers coach Robin Brown said left handed top order batsman Williams picked up an ankle injury and is definitely out of the match against Mountaineers

In other cricket news, the Zimbabwe national Under-19 cricket team returns home from the International Cricket Council Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand without even a single victory in the four matches they played.