dyton mupawaenda
Sports Reporter
THE Old Mutual Cricket Academy’s flagship cricket extravaganza is set to commemorate late founder Heath Streak as it returns this year christened “The Under-16 Fawcett Cricket Cup”.
The three-day event is starting tomorrow in Bulawayo, with the finals and the prize giving ceremony to be held on Sunday.
The academy’s president and board chairman Joseph Rego said seven teams — Falcon College, CBC, Tuskers Development, Petra College, Lomagundi College, Peterhouse Boys College and the Hellenic Academy — will be vying for the coveted trophy.
The T10 cricket extravaganza touted as a Mini IPL will be played on the lines of the Indian Premier League with a blend of music and entertainment.
Rego said the event will also be used to commemorate the academy’s founder and former Zimbabwe national cricket team icon Heath Streak, who died aged 49 in September this year after battling liver cancer.
“The tournament will honour the Academy’s founder Heath Streak and is being held in his memory,” said Rego.
“It is my heartfelt desire to eventually turn this event into an Under-16 Cricket World Cup in the coming years.
“Preparations are in full swing at the Old Mutual Cricket Academy with a new irrigation facility being installed to revive the fields burnt down by the scorching summer heat.
“There has been a great excitement in the air with people in Bulawayo anticipating a spectacular cricket bash on the weekend as all roads leading to the Old Mutual Cricket Academy.
“The Academy’s associate Sculpt Gym is also hosting a Christmas Fair on the junior sports field featuring over a hundred shopping stalls, a variety of food stalls, jumping castles and water slides, face painting and various other activities and entertainment for children and families, a day filled with fun, entertainment and serious cricket,” said Rego.
The inaugural edition was first held in 2015 and was called the Africa Cricket Cup.
The tournament was graced by the Academy’s patron President Mnangagwa, who was then the Vice-President of Zimbabwe.
The glamorous T20 festival featured two academy teams consisting of top Under-14 cricketers selected from various schools from across Zimbabwe and four African Nations – South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia participated in the tournament.
South Africa won the inaugural launch edition. In 2017 the second edition of the prestigious tournament was held in Harare in honour of President Mnangagwa and named The President’s Under-14 Afro Asia Cricket Cup and it featured an academy team, an Under-14 team from India and five teams from various African nations.
South Africa won the second edition by beating Zimbabwe in a thrilling final. Unfortunately, in 2020 there was an outbreak of the dreadful Covid-19 that shook the entire world causing significant disruption to the worldwide sporting calendar since World War II. The President’s Under-14 Afro Asia Cricket Cup faced the wrath of the pandemic. The prestigious tournament is once again being reintroduced this year rechristened “The Fawcett Under-16 Cricket Cup”.
This tournament in 2024 will turn into The President’s Under-16 T20 Afro-Asia Cricket Cup, with the participation of invitation teams from African and Asian Nations along with the colleges who have been a part of this relaunched edition.
Online Reporter