Regional 5-Day Series 2022 | Northerns Vs Southerns

[Googly]

It would be interesting to know who would resurrect Manyame ground. Are they looking to ZC or is there anyone higher up in the Air Force with an interest in cricket?
Making a ground nice is not too tough, I don't know what their clubhouse, sidescreens etc look like though.

Same as White Rhinos. Maybe they have a ground? If it's an army side as you say, then there's the old Police Grounds, which was just an amazing place. Have a lot of memories of that place. Watching Proctor steam in from the side screen was a sight to behold.

[secretzimbo]

It's all better than nothing, but I don't see 11 Div 2 sides playing all their games or even in some instances managing to raise a team. They can't be played on the same days as Div 1 as there aren't enough grounds so you're going to have players bouncing between Divisions and Clubs.
We are definitely going to end up with Takashinga 3 winning that Div 2 and being promoted to Div1 and having 3 Taka's sides in the same competition. I just don't see how that's good for cricket. Why don't they just have their own internal league and be done with it? They don't need anyone else. It's hard to fathom this narrow minded way of thinking.

I wasn't even aware that Manyame Air base had a ground?
I'll be massively surprised if it's functional.
I see the Bindura ground looks very presentable, someone has put in a lot of work there. It would be good if they had water so it stays green during winter. Don't they have enuf players to form a club and join this Club comp? Problem is transport for players to Bindura to play them.

Then what happens when NPL starts? Will it run at the same time as Vigne Cup? All the better players will be in the NPL, so who's left for Vigne? Then there's definitely no-one left for Div 2 unless we can shake out some Grannies and Grandpas.
That Div 2 would be quite a useful place for some of the lady players to have a go. Are there any club games for them? I don't even know.

Yeah the ground at Manyame is still in use. No idea of the condition but they do still use it for cricket. They used to play their 2nd div games there, but maybe now they've been promoted it's not deemed good enough for the top league.

It looks like four games were played simultaneously the other day at Prince Edward. Surprised by that. I thought only 2, maybe 3 at a push, of the squares were still decent. Maybe they've done some work on them.

Elton and his academy have something to do with Bindura - there's a kids programme running there. He's expanding quite quickly, he's got stuff going on in Harare, Bindura, BAC and Mutare now. I've read that he said his academy players "will be playing for the academy team in the Harare league" - which team is that?

As for NPL, I heard it might be going to run in July-August, so Vigne should be done by then? Although maybe they are bringing it forward, I don't know.

Couldn't agree more on your general point about clubs needing their own ground. I don't mind Takashinga having 3 teams but at least call it that. What's with the different name for the 3rd team - it's not fooling anyone.

[Googly]

I mean this is another strange situation. This is surely a ZC initiative if its countrywide, so why brand all the places with the same name? Clearly EC is doing mileage setting things up and making sure they continue running but why are ZC effectively putting a small gap between themselves and this initiative? In a transparent and accountable system we'd be wanting to know budgets and expenditure.

If there's a set up in Mutare does that mean Tino Mawoyo's Academy is no longer operational? Mutare is a small place to have two Academies. I don't think there's a school there that even plays cricket so where do they find enough good players from to fill two academies? I'm not stirring the pot here, I'm genuinely interested to know. I just don't believe you can find an 18 year old that has had almost no exposure to meaningful cricket and groom him to become a FC player. In fact I'm going with utterly impossible!

Similarly if BAC now has something going does that mean Streaks Academy is now done and dusted?

I'm hugely skeptical of these Academies. Firstly who man's each one? If its not a well known level 3 or 4 coach with good staff under him is there a point? I want to see them work, but if they were, trust me that would be getting good press. The Acid Test will be the NPL where I see there's an Academy side that has a slot. If that side is loaded with existing/established/known players over the age of 21 then it's safe to assume its not a serious undertaking. If you can't produce a competitive side from 4 or 5 academies then it doesn't stack up. And the reality is that it doesn't stack up, this last u19 side was getting dicked by pick-up sides and they were the best we have. It would be very interesting to have kept this side together and played those same pick-up sides again to see if they'd learnt anything. That would have given us all real feedback.

In a proper corporate, people are put in charge of various projects and they're entirely accountable for the success or failure of it. What are the goals? When are they reviewed and by whom?
1.To have a window dressing footprint countrywide?
2. To produce better players that can do well in club?
3. To find a few guys that could conceivably play FC?
4. Find a couple of great guys that can go on?

I don't know the situation and any ground being sorted out is a good thing but if they'd spent the money on a defunct Harare club instead of Bindura then there'd immediately be a much needed ground available here, we are desperately short. There's enough money though to still do that. Please do it!! Club cricket was deliberately obliterated and now they're wondering how to fix it. They want someone else to fix the problem and yet retain 100% control. Life doesn't work like that.

I mean there's now 19 clubs and 4 or 5 venues at most. The Bindura one will surely be under-utilised. Finding enough academy standard players that live in Bindura? No. I might be wrong, I'm just guessing and making conversation. It would be good if someone in the know provided some answers.

How do they find guys for these Academies, what ages are they and what sort of daily/weekly regime is involved?
For example if all 20 of this last u19 squad have not been approached then it's confusing because they've already been through a comprehensive selection process and by all accounts they're the best 17-19 year olds available. This is either an admission that the selection process is flawed or theyre saying theres another 80 youngsters out there that they overlooked and are at least as good. It doesn't add up. The gap between these 20 and the others is significant, this I know as fact.
If you're going to spend money on someone's development someone needs to decide that they can go up a notch. Who does that? They need to be accountable if they waste money on people that aren't even close.
Already these u19's have had significant time and money thrown at them and as with every u19 side before they seem quite happy to wave goodbye.

Maybe the term Academy is used too loosely-
In my view nothing short of a proper Academy will achieve anything. We're trying to compete with other nations that spend significant resources on young player development.
Practically all have access to indoor facilities, bowling machines (including a Merlin), level 3 and 4 coaches that specialise in batting, seam and spin, nets and an actual ground and access to club and second team cricket to put into practice what they are learning, and pathways to serious cricket beyond that. They have fitness programs, access to gyms, some mentoring for life outside of cricket etc etc. They have sports psychologists, physios, guest coaches and speakers etc etc. I know this is what the AC Academy had in mind before Covid hamstrung them. This level of Academy costs cash, influence, and organizational skills and their plan was to have overseas players to make the money. Surely ZC should reserve maybe 5 or 6 slots for our best prospects? They don't have to do anything but pay the entrance fee in hard USD and stand back and watch someone else do it for them and its in town its not an Aussie air ticket to the Lehman Academy. Spending real money on half a dozen guys in a proper environment and having success with one or two of them is a massive return on your investment in cricketing terms and its a shed load cheaper than running 5 Academies countrywide with 60-80 players who haven't got a snowballs chance in hell. Just my opinion.

They could mirror the AC concept and use the Country Club facilities, but thats now a real undertaking and they don't have the personnel. Just look at the CV's of the guys that run these well known Academies. They're serious.

From what I see they're going for quantity over quality. This is not one billion India, this is 500 player Zimbabwe, its a different model. I just dont see it working. If there's a genius coach at one of these places that finds a really good kid to mentor it may work, but we're short in both departments. The harsh reality is that we would struggle to find 15 good Academy guys to fill one Academy, yet there's now 5 out there in outlying towns.
Once again- grass roots cricket can't work here, we need to focus all our limited resources on what little we do have.
Get those esteemed talent scouts of ours out there on a road trip to these towns and have coaching clinics and anyone who thinks he's worth a damn must try out and if there's a hidden gem out there put him in the boot of the car and get him back to Harare or Bulawayo. Concentrate all our miniscule resources in two places only. End of.

[Terryalderman]

Googly do you get paid to provide content to ZCF! Very thorough post.

[TapsC2]

I think the late minister of agriculture was the man behind Bindura's country club being renovated and revived. He was the one pushing for country clubs to be renovated all over the country. They also did the one in Banket and were working on a few more. That man had a strong vision.

As for coaching I found it interesting that Hondo is in the UK working on getting some badges. He clearly has some high ambitions. I can't find the article now but I will keep looking for it. Maybe this is where Houghton can do his job and train all these club coaches.

[secretzimbo]

Similarly if BAC now has something going does that mean Streaks Academy is now done and dusted?

I think so. They renamed and reformed the board after he was banished, but inevitably it seems like it has lost all momentum as a result.

I'm hugely skeptical of these Academies. Firstly who man's each one? If its not a well known level 3 or 4 coach with good staff under him is there a point? I want to see them work, but if they were, trust me that would be getting good press. The Acid Test will be the NPL where I see there's an Academy side that has a slot. If that side is loaded with existing/established/known players over the age of 21 then it's safe to assume its not a serious undertaking. If you can't produce a competitive side from 4 or 5 academies then it doesn't stack up. And the reality is that it doesn't stack up, this last u19 side was getting dicked by pick-up sides and they were the best we have. It would be very interesting to have kept this side together and played those same pick-up sides again to see if they'd learnt anything. That would have given us all real feedback.

What's the NPL academy side all about? Is it specifically for Chigumbura's academy? Or is it just generally a national age group side or something?

I don't know the situation and any ground being sorted out is a good thing but if they'd spent the money on a defunct Harare club instead of Bindura then there'd immediately be a much needed ground available here, we are desperately short. There's enough money though to still do that. Please do it!! Club cricket was deliberately obliterated and now they're wondering how to fix it. They want someone else to fix the problem and yet retain 100% control. Life doesn't work like that.

I mean there's now 19 clubs and 4 or 5 venues at most. The Bindura one will surely be under-utilised. Finding enough academy standard players that live in Bindura? No. I might be wrong, I'm just guessing and making conversation. It would be good if someone in the know provided some answers.

The board keep talking about club cricket a lot. It's clearly their priority at the moment. Hopefully they have the brain cells to join the dots and realise you need grounds for this. They currently have HSC, OH, Takashinga, Sunrisers, Alex, OG and Manyame in use in Harare plus the school grounds, so it's not too bad. There's some easy gets though - a bit of expenditure and all of these could be brought up to a really good standard (some are pretty poor) and 1 or 2 more could be added. Country Club is just sitting there. Some of the visiting ladies teams trained there a few months ago during the qualifiers. So maybe there is some appetite to have cricket back there. Get it sorted! Universals is a huge mess but surely thats an obvious target as well.

Also this sudden love-in with club cricket would be good if it wasn't the same very people who destroyed it in the first place

From what I see they're going for quantity over quality. This is not one billion India, this is 500 player Zimbabwe, its a different model. I just dont see it working. If there's a genius coach at one of these places that finds a really good kid to mentor it may work, but we're short in both departments. The harsh reality is that we would struggle to find 15 good Academy guys to fill one Academy, yet there's now 5 out there in outlying towns.
Once again- grass roots cricket can't work here, we need to focus all our limited resources on what little we do have.
Get those esteemed talent scouts of ours out there on a road trip to these towns and have coaching clinics and anyone who thinks he's worth a damn must try out and if there's a hidden gem out there put him in the boot of the car and get him back to Harare or Bulawayo. Concentrate all our miniscule resources in two places only. End of.

Ya, can't argue with this really. We can all dream of cricket being played in every spot all over the country but it isn't going to happen, anyone who thinks it will has been smoking something.

They are trying to go for the grassroots and build from the bottom up. I mean, great, go for it - but it's going to take years and years, if not decades, to produce any results - and people have to be happy with that and realise that. And we all know there is zero chance in Zim. Nothing lasts that long. If there aren't results almost instantly then someone will get impatient and it will all come crashing down again. Or there will be some big disaster, either cricketing or generally politically/economically in the country at some point anyway.

We need a handful of schools in Harare and a few in Byo playing really high quality stuff with good facilities. A limited but competitive club league and franchises that actually select the best possible players. It's not rocket science.

All these dreams of having 30 clubs in Harare, sports clubs in every other town or city, 50 schools, 10 academies, etc - it's cloud cuckoo stuff and it will take many many years to get there. Let's get the basics right first and sort out the stuff we do have.


In positive news, some coaches have been overseas for qualifications recently and Houghton has been running some level 1 courses for new coaches and schools, and I believe is writing a coaching manual and materials.

[secretzimbo]

I see St Johns and particularly St George’s had a rough time in SA last week. Doesn’t bode well for the future

[Kriterion_BD]

I see St Johns and particularly St George’s had a rough time in SA last week. Doesn’t bode well for the future

Are those the top schools in ZIM?

[zimfan1]

Brad Evans getting a game today, not really sure what the point of these games are as they have left a load of guys out of this game which will reduce the quality.

[zimfan1]

Have a look at the first ball of the match, absolute snorter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-NIUEwuCZU