Zim Cricket Mislead Us Once Again NO Taylor, Sibanda, Moor

[zimfan1]

Fathwear Series kicks off as Mangongo threatens


DEFENDING Faithwear Series champions coach Steven Mangongo threatens to be beat all before him in a bid to retain the title they won last season and claims he has the team to do the job, but he has to content with Kevin Curran’s strong Northerns side.

In an interview with the website, Mangongo who kicks Easterns’ defence of the title with a date against a youthful Centrals side said, “As defending champions we have enough of what it takes to win matches. Our side is perhaps one of the more balanced ones and for that only victory can do justice to such a standing”.

But Curran poured water on Mangongo’s seeming bullying tactics. “It is good to have competition and Steven (Mangongo) is a good example of a fighter but the beauty of it is that he knows we can beat him and that we have the power to do so. We have done that before and we will do it again and he knows,” Curran said.

Both Northerns and Easterns have on paper two strong sides that are tipped to fight all the way to the title in the US$5000 competition. Although Curran said he would miss hard hitting opening batsman Brendan Taylor and teenage schoolboy sensation Pete Moore who toured South Africa with his school, he can still call on the likes of Tatenda Taibu, Regis Chakabva and Elton Chigumbura.

What is very interesting is that both Mangongo and Curran do not meet until the second round of matches on Sunday but such is their rivalry that they both forgot to speak about their Saturday opponents. Easterns play Centrals at the CFX Academy while Northerns open their account against Westerns at Harare Sports Club.

Centrals coach Shepherd Makunura was cool about his opponents and said that opponents can underrate his side at their own peril. Said Makunura: “Our side is young but it has got some good prospects such as Waller (Malcolm) who made his ODI debut against Bangladeshi in the last tour. He can give us some value and am confident we will play some good cricket.

“One thing for sure is that we will be competitive and with the likes of youngsters such as Bothwell Chapungu who has had a brilliant national league season, winning matches is not out of our reach for us.

“If our batting performs well since we will be missing Vusa Sibanda, Alister Maregwede and Friday Kasteni, all in Australia, then we stand a chance because our bowling is strong and we got a surprise package in teenager Roger Kahiya who can give us some very good off spin and is outstanding with the ball as well”.

But Clement Mahachi, Westerns coach was confident that names will not be crucial in winning this year’s Faithwear Series. “Although we will miss our biggest missile in bowler Tawanda Mupariwa who is capable of giving you at least five wickets per inning, we still have enough as both Keith Dabengwa and Chris Mpofu can deliver and they both have been doing well,” he said.

Mahachi added: “That we will play our first match at Harare Sports Club, a wicket that favours pacemen, we can surprise Northerns and winning the toss could be key for either team. But more importantly we are under no pressure at all as we have nothing to prove.

“We are just here to play our cricket and the boys will enjoy themselves and that could turn the tide in our favour. With the likes of Mark Vermuelen and Charles Coventry sure to give our otherwise very inexperienced side the necessary stability, no one should take us for granted as the boys can upset them,” Mahachi said.

But without doubt the highlight of the series would certainly be the contest between Mangongo’s Easterns and Curran’s Northerns. Curran who said he is looking at getting one of his top four batsmen getting at least a hundred and staying on the crease for long to create bigger partnerships, can come unstuck by the more aggressive Mangongo who said they believe in work ethic and team work.

Said Mangongo: “We are ready for the challenge and we always get into matches to win. For those who think they can beat us, we say it is OK to have wishful thinkers but we are ready for the challenge including that from Northerns”.

But Curran was more diplomatic and said, “We take one game at a time. You can not run before you can walk”.

Saturday fixtures – Northerns v Westerns (HSC) Centrals v Easterns (CFX Academy)
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[brmtaylor.com admin]

It's good to see the coaches setting up a bit of rivalry. This Northerns vs Easterns rivalry could get interesting, but traditionally Faithwear scores have been low. If we started having some 300+ matches then that would get more people talking about domestic cricket.

I reckon people are underestimating Westerns at the moment (Vermeulen, Williams, Coventry, Mpofu, etc). Traditionally they (Matabeleland) are the second best team, it is only because of national team imports that Easterns (Manicaland) are putting up such good performances.

[aydee]

No Taylor, Sibanda, Moor, Mupariwa, Kasteni, Maregwede... And that is just who the article mentions. Shame, the standard seems to be dropping by the minute...

[jimbo]

I dont think sibanda has played in many of the one day tournaments or four day matches in zimbabwe the past couple of years, You would think he could show a bit more willing

[CrimsonAvenger]

I dont think sibanda has played in many of the one day tournaments or four day matches in zimbabwe the past couple of years, You would think he could show a bit more willing

Yes indeed. He must have been playing there to prove his mettle. I don't think he is among the top 10 batsmen in the country anymore.

As for Taylor's news, well, that is the reason why you need to have this periodic paranoia when it comes to ZC