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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe national women’s cricket team bowler Sarah Dambanevana has received plaudits from Zimbabwe Cricket after she featured as one of the umpires in the historic final of the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup between India and England on Sunday.
The 32-year-old former Zimbabwe women’s national team player continued to make huge strides on the international stage after standing in her first final of the ICC events in South Africa.
Zimbabwe Cricket managing director, Givemore Makoni, said Dambanevana has done well as a player and is now making her name as an umpire, as part of ZC and ICC’s global development strategy.
The ex-Lady Chevrons bowler made history last year when she became the first female to officiate in a domestic cricket final after standing in the Fifty50 Challenge decider between Eagles and Rhinos.
“Sarah has been in the game for quite some time as a player and now an official,” said Makoni.
“She has recently been involved with domestic cricket as an umpire and has had very good assessment reports. We are glad her abilities are being recognised.
“ICC are making big strides in promoting women’s cricket and Sarah was one of the several women that took part at the recent Under-19 World Cup and their preferred choice for the final.
“We are happy for her. She was good as a player and she is doing well on the other side as well.”
Dambanevana started playing cricket when she was still in high school in 2007 for the Midlands women’s team, now known as Midwest Rhinos Women.
She was selected in the national team for the first time in 2009 in preparation for the regional ICC Women’s World Cup qualifiers which were held the following year in Kenya.
Dambanevana played for the national team until 2013 before switching over to officiating.
She was appointed among the 15 personnel that officiated at the inaugural ICC Under 19 Women’s T20 World Cup set for South Africa, along with another Zimbabwean, Owen Chirombe.
But in line with ICC’s development strategy, nine out of the 15 officials were women, making this the highest number of female match officials to be appointed for an ICC event.
Dambanevana stood with Candace la Borde of the West Indies in the final as the India Under-19 Women’s cricket team cruised to a comprehensive seven wickets victory over England in Potchefstroom on Sunday.
The former bowler, who is now a member of the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires, officiated not less than 10 games during the Under-19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa.
She was also involved in the semi-finals when she and La Borde stood in the middle during the clash between England and Australia. Chirombe also took part in that semi-final match as the match referee.
Dambanevana was part of the history on Sunday when India became the first-ever ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup winners with that victory over England.
The fourth umpire was Australian Lisa McCabe. The other officials were Sri Lankans Debunu De Silva as television umpire and Venessa De Silva as the match referee.
The Zimbabwe Women’s Under-19 team was also part of the jamboree but they failed at the first hurdle after losing all their matches at the group stage.
But Zimbabwe continued to be involved through Dambanevana and Chirombe, who were part of the officials appointed by the International Cricket Council.
Makoni said Zimbabwe have made huge strides with development especially in the women’s game where they also launched a 50-over and Twenty20 competitions in their efforts to grow and strengthen women’s cricket throughout the country.
“Women’s cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. We now have a national Under-19 side, a senior national team that is doing well and a domestic league that is running across formats.
“A lot is happening on the ground. For instance, here in Harare, women’s cricket is now being played in areas such as Glen View, Highfield and Chitungwiza as well. A lot of girls are taking up cricket in schools.
“In that vein, we have also taken steps to introduce women to officiating and we have women that are taking charge of our domestic games.
“We have more female officials like Julia Chibhabha and Emily Jinjika who are looking to become international referees.
“Our officials, both male and female, have gone on to do well at the highest level and it is not a big surprise the ICC have been considering them at the highest level.
“On the men’s side, Langton Rusere is now on the international panel in terms of bilateral cricket. Emmanuel Dube is also making strides as an international referee and we have the likes of Iknow Chabi and Owen Chirombe as well,” said Makoni.
Online Reporter