This Week in Zimbabwe (#7)

Posted by brmtaylor.com admin on May 15, 2009

New this week in Zimbabwe cricket: the Metro Bank Twenty20 gets underway, the Streak family are part of the solution to Matabeleland's cricket crisis and brmtaylor.com's latest exclusive interview is revealed. It's all happening, this week in Zimbabwe.

Metropolitan Bank Twenty20

Twenty20 has reached Bulawayo and there have been some very exciting developments, including the return to Westerns by Mark Vermeulen after an injury layoff - but more importantly Vermeulen's return to form with 108 from 54 balls against Centrals. The runs didn't stop there though, with Vermeulen posting 74 against Easterns, 53 against Northerns and 47 against Easterns. Unsurprisingly, upon hearing about Vermeulen's maiden Twenty20 century, fans were delighted.

Elton Chigumbura has also made his mark in the shortest version of the game, scoring 103 not out against Centrals. His score came from 56 balls and included 8 fours and 4 sixes.

Malcolm Waller's good vein of form continued, with 74 for Centrals against Northerns.

On the bowling front, Trevor Garwe has led the way with 8 wickets at an economy of 5.36. Michael Chinouya follows closely with 7 wickets.

Also important to note, Derrick Townshend (father of Matthew) has been referee for a few of the Twenty20 matches. It is good to see he is still involved with cricket in Matabeleland.

The results so far have been quite remarkable, with Westerns turnaround in form coming as a shock. Stranger still, they have recorded 2 ties in 4 matches.

Game 1: Centrals def. Northerns
Game 2: Westerns def. Easterns
Game 2: Unknown result
Game 4: Centrals tied with Westerns
Game 5: Centrals def. Easterns
Game 6: Westerns tied with Northerns
Game 7: Northerns def. Centrals
Game 8: Easterns def. Westerns

Heath and Denis Streak part of Matabeleland cricket revival committee

After a dismal showing in the Logan Cup, the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province cricket board has set up a committee to look into cricket in the province. The members will include Denis Streak, Heath Streak, Phil Lamola, Buds Mukadam, Jerry Sullivan, Clifford Mukome, Tawanda Mupariwa, Stanley Timoni, John Nyumbu, Rob Wiley and Ethan Dube.

This appears to be quite a good panel, with a wealth of international experience coming from Heath Streak and Tawanda Mupariwa, well supported by the domestic experience of Denis Streak and John Nyumbu.

Provincial head, Stanley Staddon, wants there to be structure in their domestic league. "[We want] a situation where junior and senior schools' sport is organised. Senior schools feed into the clubs and the clubs into the Logan and Twenty20 teams. For us to get players who can stand the competition for Matabeleland, there has to be good management of our clubs.".

Full article in the Chronicle.

Bryan Strang exclusive interview on brmtaylor.com

The latest brmtaylor.com interview will be posted on the website within the next few hours.