HARARE - Despite the considerable financial constraints, Zimbabwe Cricket need to be commended for recognising their players when they handed out much deserved awards last night.
Captain Brendan Taylor once again made his presence known by scooping two of the awards, those being the batsman of the year, as well as player of the year.
There were no real surprises as the awards went pretty much the way fans and the media expected.
One of the players who in a very short space of time made everybody sit up and take note is Midwest Rhinos medium pace bowler Richard Muzhange who richly deserved the award of rookie of the year.
There is absolutely no doubt that should this honest, hard-working young man continue to work at his game, the tag of Twenty20 and one-day player will soon fall away and He will become the first change bowler Zimbabwe has desperately been looking for.
Other awards worth mentioning are the Players Choice award which went to Hamilton Masakadza.
Mdara Hammi, as he is affectionately known, undoubtedly claimed this award thanks to his remarkable form he displayed when playing Twenty20 cricket.
His two half centuries against New Zealand in February was then followed up by a mountain of runs in the unofficial Pran RFL triangular series in June, not forgetting his contributions in last year’s Stanbic 20 competition.
The most promising player of the year went to Mashonaland Eagles allrounder Tino Mutombodzi who particularly impressed in a 50 over triangular series against Sri Lanka A, and a powerful South African A side.
Mutombodzi was consistently good with his leg spinners, and on more than one occasion chipped in with valuable contributions with the bat down the order when Zimbabwe A were in trouble.
In fact, there are many who believe that Mutombodzi should have gone to the ICC World Twenty20 ahead of out of form Elton Chigumbura as the team’s allrounder.
However, Mutombodzi is young and his hunger for the game as well as his desire to succeed will earn him a place in the national team sooner rather than later.
Now that the awards have been taken care of, the players can now once again focus on their job, while Zimbabwe Cricket will hopefully be doing their best to arrange some much needed international cricket. - Dean du Plessis
So Dean du Plessis is back reporting cricket again? that would be great news
Zimbabwe Cricket Coach of the Year Dave Houghton returns to Bulawayo to face Matabeleland Tuskers, a side he guided to back-to-back Logan Cup titles.
The former Zimbabwe captain is now in charge of Masvingo-based Southern Rocks, who take on the Tuskers in a Logan Cup tie starting at Queens Sports Club today.
“I was thrilled to get the award but it’s related to last year’s achievements when I was still with Tuskers, it goes out to all the players and everybody who played a part towards our victory,” Houghton told the Daily News yesterday.
After scooping the top prizes at the 2012 cricket awards last Saturday, Taylor said: "We probably shouldn't have had the awards this year. There was nothing really."
But it is not only in cricket where there was 'nothing' but in every discipline of Zimbabwean sport.
