Streak and Technical Team given notice

Participate in discussion with your fellow Zimbabwe cricket fans!
ljriley90
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:31 pm

Re: Streak and Technical Team given notice

Post by ljriley90 »

Googly wrote:
Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:34 pm
Sure, but do they just play net cricket? What about grounds, equipment and coaching? I cannot get the agenda of doing this when there are endless government school structures that are abandoned and buggered. Actual schools with 1000 plus kids in them and playing fields etc. Revive those first. Their first dollar should be spent at Churchill. Get those big government schools playing proper cricket again. They need more than nets, they need grounds and pitches, they need the school body maintaining them through fees and a vaguely interested parent body. Churchill is the acid test- if they cannot revive their facilities and get some quality kids coming out of there then believe me Muzarabani and Colleen Bawn is a total complete and utter waste of time.
Cricket pitches need a water source and knowledgeable groundsmen and equipment.
If one Zim cricketer comes out of Colleen Bawn or Muzarabani in the next ten years it’s still a moneumental waste of time and money. In that time you’d get 10 coming out of Peter House, St Johns and St George’s, but they prejudice these schools and there’s a quota of 5 or 6 age group players picked them they scrounge around for the remaining players from development teams and only occasionally pick a good kid, but invariably they make the team uncompetitive.
As an outsider to Zim reading in on this situation my suggestion about pitches and wickets in particular at these type of schools would be lay synthetic turf wickets down. The ground staff would literally only have to cut the grass round the wicket and outfield so even with limited prep you are able to offer a wicket that can be used to play cricket, and a safe one at that.

The onus at school age for kids is to be playing as much as possible. Why leave the amount of game time available in the hands on having someone who can curate a ground. With a synthetic wicket you'd only need a council lead grass cutter maintaining outfield.

Ok the initial outlay on laying the wicket will be a bit of a hit but you've got cricket available for years to come with no need to rely on a groundsman who can prepare a wicket, just need a couple of hand son deck to maintain outfield.

A lot of schools here in UK and club have a synthetic wicket for games / practice.

ljriley90
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:31 pm

Re: Streak and Technical Team given notice

Post by ljriley90 »

Obviously there still needs to be grass wickets available to play on. Maybe target the older kids with them or the ones who show particularly good skills / talent and nurture them there.

For the kids new to cricket and in need of actually playing outdoors on a pitch, in game situation - synthetic wicket is the way forward.

Googly
Posts: 14197
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:48 pm

Re: Streak and Technical Team given notice

Post by Googly »

Absolutely. Westridge school have one. We used to play on matting that we called coconut matting, same as the one that’s at Westridge. It’s cheeky! I’ve still got a scar from diving on it to make my ground.
The Astra nets at HSC, our national ground were a diabolical mess last time I looked as well. Embarrassing.
The artificial turf at our national hockey stadium was stolen some years ago, in bits and pieces, I assume to make carpets! :lol:
They’ve got wonderful artificial stuff now, the way forward. They need cut out replacements at the batting/bowling ends as they take a hammering.

Post Reply