The Sunday Mail
Deputy Sports Editor
ONE would wonder what it is to be Christabel Chatonzwa.
The fact that her Fifty50 Challenge Cup heroics occurred in front of a virtually empty Old Hararians Sports Club is both tragic and a confirmation of the state of women’s cricket in Zimbabwe.
The ladies simply don’t get enough love unless they are in Lady Chevrons’ garb.
The 30-year-old Alliance Health Eagles’ all-rounder scored an unbeaten 108, only to miss out on the second innings of her team’s 167-run victory over Rhinos due to injury.
That seems to be the story of Chatonzwa’s life. Words like easy, simple and normal do not exist in her vocabulary.
The fact that she is able to walk and run is a miracle on its own.
She was run over by a car when she was 13 and doctors thought she might never walk normally, let alone run, again.
“I was run over by a police car when I was in Form One,” said Chatonzwa, who still gets a little emotional when re-telling the story.
“I was on my way from school and this car lost control and swayed to a side pavement.”
She spent six months in hospital, during which she received three major operations on one leg and skin grafting on the other.
“The doctor said I could never be an athlete because my leg would never be the same.
“However, I refused to accept that diagnosis as my love for sports was just too strong.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
“I remember, I would leave my clutches behind and walk with my plaster every chance I got. “It made my leg stronger,” she said.
Chatonzwa joined the sprinting team a year later and soon reverted to her favourite 200-metre events.
She believed that if she could sprint and also return to her first love – baseball – she could do anything.
Unfortunately, both the mental and physical scars of the accident haunted her for a while.
“I still couldn’t wear skirts and dresses because of one of the scars from the operations on my leg.
“However, when I realised that the scar is proof of what I had been through, and how I managed to get past it, I became more comfortable in my own skin.
“Now I can wear bikinis all day.”
Her second challenge, and one that would change her life for the good, occurred when she moved to Seke 1 High School.
Although the school did not have a baseball programme, her transfer coincided with the period Alois Tachana introduced women’s cricket at the school.
This was to mark the beginning of her international cricket career.
She has since developed into one of the vital cogs of the Lady Chevrons team.
Despite the problems she has had to overcome, what makes her story all the more inspirational is the fact that she made her debut in her international career in 2005 at the age of 19.
At the reigning Fifty50 Challenge Cup champions, Alliance Health Eagles, Chatonzwa together with her international teammates Precious Marange and Modester Mupachikwa have been tasked with moulding and nurturing some of the country’s young and aspiring female cricketers.
The team were the surprise package of the just-ended Fifty50 Challenge Cup.
Under normal circumstances, they had no business winning the tournament as most of the team members were relatively young.
The team finished the tournament with one defeat on their way to claiming the title, which was sealed by their victory over Rhinos.
“I really didn’t see us winning the title when the Fifty50 Challenge began, and this is not to say I doubted the abilities of the team.
“I just looked at the landscape of the women’s cricket and noticed that we had the least number of senior players as compared to other teams.
“Going on to win was both a shock and a joy,” she said. Scoring the unbeaten hundred in the final and being in charge of the young players made it particularly special.
“It boils down to the talent currently in the team and how the squad is more of a family rather than anything else.
“If I am to be honest, I have learnt more from these young girls than I have taught them.
“There is a lot of talent within this team, what with promising players like Adelle Zimunhu, who can play straight drives like a seasoned professional.
“Alice Marongwe is a great opener, while Olinda Chare is a very good leg-spinner.
“We also have this young girl by the name Rukudzo Mwakayeni, who is a very good medium-pace bowler.
“I foresee all these girls, and many others I did not mention, graduating into the senior national team very soon,” she said.
The Eagles coaching staff has made the environment so free and relaxed that the trio of Chatonzwa, Marange and Mupachikwa also play a part in the coaching process.
The 30-year-old Chatonzwa now regards her unbeaten 108 runs in the final at the weekend as
her best and favourite performance.
“It certainly is right up there amongst my favourite innings.
“It helped us getting what turned out to be a match-winning total, and simply being able to lead from the front and showing the younger players how it’s done is the best feeling ever.”
