The Sunday Mail
WHEN Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Wilson Manase unveiled the 2015/16 international season, national coach Dav Whatmore applauded it as resembling what a fixture for a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) should be like.
ZimGold supporting Zimbabwe cricket
India came for three One-day International (ODI) and two Twenty20 International matches.
They were followed soon after by New Zealand – the Black Caps touring Zimbabwe for three ODI matches and one Twenty20 International.
The 2015/16 fixtures list which excited coach Whatmore has reminded all and sundry that even after the disappointment that was Zimbabwe’s performance at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the game remains alive and well in the country.
That message has not been lost on the various publics of the game.
The fans have voted with their feet and turned up in full colour and sound at the matches.
The media has given cricket due space in print and cyber, on radio and television. Zimbabwe commerce and industry have also come to the party, underwriting various facets of the local game.
One of those companies is Pure Oil, the makers of ZimGold which is a proud local brand of cooking oil.
ZimGold is supporting Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) by helping to motivate players to do well as members of the senior men’s national team. It has come up with a prize, the Pride of Zimbabwe award, which is presented to the Zimbabwe player adjudged to have given an outstanding performance during a tour. The player should have performed in such a way as to make Zimbabwe proud, hence the name of the award.
Former Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya was the winner of the inaugural award, after excelling during the triangular ODI series that included South Africa and Australia at the Harare Sports Club in August, 2014.
During the series, Utseya claimed the scalps of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller to take only the second hat-trick ever for Zimbabwe. The first was by Eddo Brandes against England at the same venue in 1997.
Utseya also became only the third spinner to claim a hat-trick in the history of the game – joining Saqlain of Pakistan and Abdur Razzak of Bangladesh. Otherwise everyone else who has taken a hat-trick in cricket was a fast bowler.
Having also dismissed JP Duminy and Hashim Amla in the same match against the Proteas, the player they call “The Economist” because of his parsimony with the ball,claimed his first five-wicket haul in international cricket and became the most successful bowler at Harare Sports Club with 51 victims.
Chamu Chibhabha won the 2nd Pride of Zimbabwe Award, when India toured Zimbabwe in July this year to kick-off the Zimbabwe Home Season. Chibhabha scored 247 runs in the series providing some great performances at the start of the innings in the series with three half-centuries.
He also took six wickets in the series, displaying his talent in all fields.
Craig Ervine won the award for his performance during the series against New Zealand, when he finished unbeaten on 103 runs as Zimbabwe beat the Black Caps by seven wickets in their first ODI match. It was Ervine’s first ODI century.
In another act of giving back to the community, ZimGold plans to construct nets in some high density areas around the country.
They are committed to improving the infrastructure for Zimbabwe’s young cricket talent, in collaboration with ZC.
“We cannot even begin to talk about the future of Zimbabwe cricket unless we invest in grass-root programmes that will make it possible for us to spot talent at a formative stage and to then develop it through the years,” said the ZC director for development and club cricket, Givemore Makoni, while welcoming the partnership with ZimGold.
