The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema Deputy Sports Editor
WHEN he is not sharing his unique take on the match-fixing scourge that has hit cricket in recent times or talking about his Covid-19 lockdown experience via social media, Mpumelelo Mbangwa is the everyday charming face and voice of the game’s television commentary.
It is a gig that has taken him all over the world, chief among these places and events being many cricket World Cups, IPL tournaments, Test and One Day Internationals (odi) tours.
It has been 18 years since the 44-year-old called time on a short, but eventful career, and Mbangwa last week appeared on Capitalk FM’s “Dean at Stumps” cricket show, where he shed some light on some of his career’s highs and lows.
Among the various issues he spoke about were the origins of his nickname “Pommie”, his first wicket and the influence West Indian cricket had on his career.
Born on June 26, 1976, he is largely known by the moniker Pommie and that alone has gone through many alterations from the more conventional “Pom”, Pommie to the urbane “Pompster” or “Lelo” right up to the hilarious “Pomegranate”.
“As far as I can think back, and I know there are many reincarnations of the reasons why I have the nickname, and as far as I can remember I would go back to playing cricket with Gavin Rennie when we were something like 13 or 14-years-old.
“Rennie probably doesn’t remember this, because it’s probably inconsequential to him, but for Rennie and many of the guys to say Mpumelelo was not easy.
“In trying to say it many things would come out, for some use ‘Mpo’ and say Mpomelelo instead of ‘Mpu’.
“Rennie was one of those guys who would call me Mpomelelo and later shortened it to Pom and asked if that was okay.
“It didn’t bother me one way or the other, at the time particularly, and I was comfortable because everybody knew what my actual name was,” he said.
Most of his cricket mates started calling him that, but would soon go into a few more incarnations before settling on today’s worldly recognised Pommie.
“At school (Milton High), most people went by my surname, and for some time some called me Mbangwa, while others called me Pom, and it didn’t matter which one,” he said.
“As time went on, ‘Pom’ or ‘Pommie’ became more popular as people started seeing me on TV playing cricket.
“But these things tend to evolve with time. I spent some time in England and being sort of a comedian, (I) tried to talk like the guys over there, as a way of fitting in, and that was the time I started to play for the provincial and national sides.
“Guys in that set up did not necessarily have any contact with me as a 12 or 14-year-old, with regard to what my name or nickname was, and so from their perspective the way I spoke kind of said I speak like a Pommie.
“The accent eventually disappeared, but the nickname evolved.
“Today, those that know me from school rarely call me Pommie, although it does tend to come out occasionally, they mostly call me by my surname.”
Pommie, having gone through the age-group structure, eventually did get his Test and odi debuts, in 1996 against Pakistan, and would go on to play 15 Tests and 29 ODIs respectively, between 1996 and 2002.
While a short career in modern-day cricket, it was an eventful stint.
At the heart of it, is strong West Indies influence.
“Today, when I talk to kids I always try to encourage them to be and do whatever they want, but I decided that I wanted to become a cricketer when I was about 13 or 14 years,” said Mbangwa.
“Cricket appealed to me, I enjoyed the sport, but I saw that there were guys who were playing cricket as a sport professionally.
“This was not in Zimbabwe, but in England mainly, and it was at that time when the fables of the West Indian team were at their peak.
“The team was still a great force to be reckoned with, but the great West Indian team was finished, and stories were getting louder and louder and here I am talking of the Marshals (Malcolm), Holdings (Michael), Roberts (Andy), Richards (Viv) and Garner (Joel).
“They kind of took on this status that was unbelievable, I watched a few of those guys and games on tapes.
“I remember there being this BBC tape, courtesy of a house master at Milton High, that I would watch (I don’t know how many times) and in those tapes were the various names that I spoke about.
“In hindsight, running in and bowling, for me, was mainly due to those guys and they played a huge part in me choosing to be a cricketer,” he said.
Mbangwa spoke about the feeling of getting his first wicket; which came on debut against Pakistan, with Ijaz Ahmed being the unlucky victim.
He got the wicket of Wasim Akram during that match, but it is the Ahmed wicket that remains the most memorable to this day.
“I got out Ijaz Ahmed, I got him out caught behind and will never forget that wicket.
“I often refer to it now, in commentary, when I watch somebody else get a first wicket.
“I would describe the feeling as walking, or running, on air; it’s like there is a mattress beneath you, and you can’t feel the bumps of the ground.
“The reason for that feeling is because it’s a goal you set when starting out, and when you achieve it that is the feeling of accomplishment and somewhat fulfilment.
“For that split second when it happens, it’s unbelievable, and when it has happened — after everybody has come to congratulate you, shake your hand, high-five you or pat you on the back — there is no further high beyond that”, he said.
Mbangwa then shed some light on issues like the quota system and his famous contribution to one of Andy Flower’s 12 Test hundreds.
He, however, declined to align his debut selection in 1996, to the now dreaded quota system.
“With regard to the quota system, I don’t really think that conversation started, or took centre stage, until probably about the year 2000 and this is from my own memory.
“By this, I mean it wasn’t advanced, or viewed as a necessity until that time and prior to that, I remember I got into the side largely due to a series of injuries.
“At the time Heath Streak was the country’s best bowler and would be in any team due to that fact.
“Eddo Brandes was in the twilight of his career, but when fit was also a sure-in for selection, and it was the same with Henry Olonga.
“The three fast bowlers generally made up Zimbabwe’s attack and when I got my first call up for the Pakistan tour, all three, for some reason, were injured at the same time.”
He has no regrets about how his career panned out, with the only thing he would change being that he would have loved to play more games.
Of the many Pommie anecdotes, on the field of play, one that stands out is the time when he helped guide Zimbabwe talisman then — Andy Flower — to a much needed century during the Chevrons tour of New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 1998.
It is arguably one of Zimbabwe’s more infamous tours, for one reason or another, but one four-run innings Mbangwa has been known to use as a rib on Flower here and again.
Coming in at number 10, Pommie had to help guide Flower on 91 to a century.
“I remember that Test match because of some things that happened.
“He was on 91 when I walked out and he said to me ‘hey Pompster, I’m going to trust you and we run everything’.
“Here I was with this huge task, Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya were turning the ball and first ball up, I lunged forward, as a number 11 does, and the ball went pad, glove and straight up to slip.
“The Sri Lankans were mad, appealing, and I just stood there. I survived the appeal, and safely helped Andy to his century even making four runs in the process, but I should have been out,” he said.
