The Sunday Mail
MIKE CHINOUYA (pictured) had a dream of being a sportsman and as he grew up in Kwekwe, everyone around him was convinced he would earn a living from either football or cricket.
But the sporting arena took long to show him brighter days. He quit soccer at school after Tafadzwa Dube monopolised the goalkeeper’s position at Kwekwe High.
His crack at professional cricket was frustrating too: Chinouya only landed half-year contracts with franchises and he was forced to look for other avenues to earn a living.
He started importing cricket equipment for resale before moving into importing cars from Japan as well as offering to drive the cars from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for his customers.
“That was tough but at the end of the day it was about earning a living,” says the pace bowler.
Chinouya made some tidy money from his endeavours, but just when he thought that he had missed his international cricket bus fortune came knocking on the 30-year-old’s door last month.
Unbeknown to him Chinouya had caught the eye of interim national team coach Makhaya Ntini when he helped the team train as a net bowler.
Ntini made the bold and shocking decision to include the Midwest Rhinos player in the Zimbabwe squad to face New Zealand in a two-Test series.
“Makhaya Ntini called me at midnight on the 23rd (of July) to inform me I was part of the squad. “His words were, ‘It’s time, Test cricket is waiting for you in Bulawayo, pack your bags you are joining us,’ recalls Chinouya.
Having surprisingly made the squad Chinouya did not expect to actually play.
“Then it all happened on the eve of the game when Graeme Creamer posted the playing 11,” he says. “I didn’t cry. All I did was pray and thank God for the opportunity. I remember I couldn’t sleep. I started thinking about the times I wanted to give up.”
And which times are these?
“There was a point in time where I thought I was at my best, I thought I would be given an opportunity but it wasn’t to be. And when you start to see your career going down you naturally think of throwing in the towel,” says Chinouya.
They call him “Rhino” at Mid West Rhinos because he is workhorse and his qualities were on show during the New Zealand series.
Chinouya toiled hard against New Zealand to emerge as Zimbabwe’s best bowler in the series with three wickets and the most maidens (14).
“Any margin of error and a guy like Martin Guptill would pounce on that lose ball. I got encouragement from my senior bowler Donald (Tiripano) and also the skipper.
“I told myself to take it like it’s a franchise game and reminded myself that God had put me there so he was going to take control of everything,” he says.
Now that he has been given a sniff, the Rhino wants to make the most of his opportunity.
“I would like to improve on my skill when playing on flat wickets. Fitness wise I think I am up there, but I will work on my upper body,” he says.
And if it wasn’t for Tafadzwa Dube, cricket would have lost Chinouya to football.
“When I was in Form 2 at Kwekwe High I decided to quit soccer for cricket because Tafadzwa Dube didn’t want to give me a chance in between the posts so I had to find an alternative,” reveals Chinouya, who is today good friends with the Harare City goalie.
