Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
Metros Editor
EXACTLY 135 years since the first ball was bowled in the first cricket match played in this country in Masvingo on August 12, 1890, Zimbabwe will today host a World Cup final game for the first time.
England, the country which introduced the sport here through Cecil John Rhodes’ Pioneer Column, will take on India, the country which played a leading role in helping us get Test status in 1992.
The two countries are battling for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup trophy at Harare Sports Club today.
It was in recognition of the historical part that Masvingo played, in the introduction of cricket in this country, that Zimbabwe Cricket decided that it should host one of the warm-up matches.
Eight years after the first cricket match was played there, Lord Hawke led an English representative side to a tour of Zimbabwe in 1998.
Now, 127 years later, a group of teenage English boys are on the threshold of World Cup success in Harare.
It’s the first time that a World Cup final of a major sports code is being held on Zimbabwean soil.
Zimbabwe has also done a lot for English cricket.
Former Chevrons captain Duncan Fletcher became the first foreign coach to take charge of England. In 2005, he became the first England coach to win an Ashes series in 18 years.
He also guided India to the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.
Andy Flower guided England to the ICC T20 World Cup in 2010.
There will be some critics who will dismiss this as just a junior World Cup final match which doesn’t carry the same weight as a showdown between the seniors.
They have a point.
But, the weakness of that argument is that it doesn’t only ignore history but tries to make a mockery of it.
It ignores the fact that not so long ago, Zimbabwe was being forced to skip some major ICC tournaments, because of some political battles, far away from the cricket fields.
It ignores the fact that England even refused to come and fulfil a World Cup fixture in 2003 in Harare, because of the same political battles.
It ignores the fact that until Zimbabwe toured England last year, the last red ball encounter between the two sides had been in 2003.
And, the last match, in any format of the game, had been in 2007.
It also ignores the fact that all this was slowly squeezing life out of domestic cricket.
And, for it to rebound in such spectacular fashion, that today it can be given the responsibility of hosting an ICC World Cup final, is testimony of the local game’s endurance.
It is also testament of the way the politics has changed with the toxicity of that dark period having been blown away by the winds of time.
And, the irony of it is that the gods of cricket have made sure that the English teenagers are in the final for the ultimate showdown against India.
The England boys, who have won all their matches so far, have been here since the opening day of the tournament.
There was a time, not so long ago, when their mere presence in this country would have caused a political storm back in England.
It became so bad that even Scotland were being barred from coming down here for matches against the Chevrons.
But, things have changed and the English teenagers, celebrating after defeating Australia in the semi-final in Bulawayo, provided some of the best images of this tournament.
When one takes all this into consideration, it then shows why Zimbabwe hosting this ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup final today is a really big deal.
For argument’s sake, if Zimbabwe was hosting the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, would it not have been a big deal?
Of course, it would be.
After all, only three African nations – Tunisia, Nigeria and Egypt – have hosted the FIFA Under-17 and Under-20 football tournaments.
South Africa have hosted the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup and ICC 50-overs and T20 World Cups.
So, when one talks of the major sports codes, whether in the junior or senior categories, only a small number of African nations have had the privilege of hosting a World Cup final.
Today, Zimbabwe will join that small group.
derick.khumalo