The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi
Sports Reporter
IT might be two years before the next Under-19 Cricket World Cup gets underway but Zimbabwe have already laid out a roadmap to their next big tournament in West Indies.
“Believing a solution paves the way to solution” reads a statement on the cover of the Zimbabwe Cricket Undrer-19 Development Blue Print.
“Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind finds ways to do it,” reads the first part of the plan.
It’s a detailed document which is expected to start next month with a review of the recent Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where Zimbabwe finished 11th out of 16 teams.
After a look at long-term player development, scholarships and feeding the outgoing stream of Under-19s into the franchise system nationwide trials are expected to be carried in March (14-15).
“All things being equal we want to follow our plan,” said Zimbabwe Under-19 coach Prosper Utseya.
“You will see we have planned for basically everything; from budget requests for training facilities, we have put school examinations in mind and it is a plan that we expect to carry us all the way to West Indies,” said Utseya.
ZC Director of Cricket Hamilton Masakadza has fully endorsed the plan.
“They have 100 percent support from our office.
“It is an important age group, which is a bridge from junior to senior team, and so we obviously take our Under-19s seriously,” Masakadza said.
Zimbabwe might have struggled at the World Cup but they left a mark by producing the tournament’s highest score of 354/8 against Scotland.
Top order batsman Tadiwa Marumani was the tournament’s fourth highest scorer with 257 runs in six innings, 16-year-old batsman Emmanuel Bawa was the seventh highest run-getter with 239 runs including a century in five innings and Milton Shumba was 11th with 205 runs.
“It shows we assembled a very strong team going into this tournament,” reckons Utseya. We had a powerful batting line- up, though we didn’t go on to win crucial games, and there were some outstanding individual performances.
“It shows we have players capable, and more importantly there are signs of a bright future for Zimbabwe.
“Going forward, if we look after these young players, and create a development pathway for them, we will have positive results,” Utseya said.
Meanwhile, Masakadza has confirmed the Logan Cup is expected to return this week after some reports the domestic season was going to pause since the national team is away in Bangladesh.
“It’s important for other players to get game time, so we expect the Logan Cup to resume next week.
“However, the dates are not yet confirmed.”
Eagles lead the table with 17 points joint with Mountaineers, Tuskers are third with six points, followed by Rhinos who are also on six points. Rangers anchor the table with just two points.
