Online Reporter
Blessing Malinganiza
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR most players, cricket ends when the last innings fade.
For Hamilton Masakadza, it never did.
The game kept pulling him to new roles, shaping him first as a batter, then as an administrator and now as the quiet figure with a referee’s notebook and a sharper view of what holds the sport together.
Each shift carried its own meaning and drew him closer to the heartbeat of the game that raised him.
He looks back on the path he has travelled with the calm confidence of someone who has lived every layer of the sport.
The former director of cricket has stepped into this latest role with the same curiosity that defined his early years.
He says the idea took root long before he ever imagined leaving the crease.
“The decision was influenced by two people mainly,” Masakadza said.
“Our most experienced match referee, Mr Emmanuel Dube, suggested I took it up after my playing career, even while I was still playing. And Langton Rusere, our most experienced umpire and umpire coach, encouraged me a lot once I took it up and is always more than ready to help. They provided a lot of insights, advice and information on how to go about it.”
What looks like a new direction is really a merging of everything he has been.
His years at the top level gave him a front-row seat to the rulebook in motion.
His time in administration sharpened that understanding and reminded him of the unseen hands that keep matches running.
“I know a lot of the laws and regulations through being a player and interacting with match referees from the other side of the table,” he explains. “Administratively, we worked a lot with match referees in terms of delivering games, and they always gave very important feedback that helped us run games better and gave me a better appreciation of the role.”
That deeper view has been the biggest revelation.
“What stood out the most was appreciating the role of a match referee better and how much work goes into it in the background,” Masakadza said.
“As with most things, it is not quite as straightforward as it appears.”
He has leaned on a close circle while finding his rhythm.
He speaks warmly about the “tight-knit community” around him, especially match referee Owen Chirombe who, in his words, “tolerates my hundred questions”.
A moment that stayed with him came when he shadowed Sir Richie Richardson, a hero from childhood, who welcomed him with the generosity of someone who still loves sharing the game.
“The people around me have made it much easier to learn the trade,” he says.
His only real difficulty has been carving out the hours.
“Finding time to do the refereeing as my other roles keep me very busy.”
His debut came during the domestic T20 clash between Mountaineers and Rangers.
It felt familiar and fresh all at once, with familiar faces and familiar pressure wrapped around a role he was taking on for the first time.
“The experience was pretty special,” he recalls.
Rusere and Chirombe stayed close enough to settle the nerves.
The fixture had an added layer because it featured many players he once worked with, and it doubled as a farewell for Elton Chigumbura.
Masakadza had watched Chigumbura’s international debut from the non-striker’s end 18 years earlier.
“It was a nice full circle moment,” he reflects.
Asked if it mattered to begin with such a high-profile domestic rivalry, his answer was firm.
“100 percent yes.”
He said that fixture “had always been the biggest for me”, and its competitiveness made the debut “even better”.
He now wants to grow slowly and deliberately.
“For now, mainly to gain more experience domestically,” he states.
He calls refereeing the “best seat in the house” to stay close to the game.
“And who knows?” he adds, “maybe the step up to the international level in due course.”
Even after playing, leading and now officiating, he refuses to see his journey as complete.
“Plenty left to be achieved,” said Masakadza.
“I am very passionate about our players and look forward to sharing more of my experience. I look forward to contributing more to the game of cricket in Zimbabwe and the game of cricket as a whole.”
Tinaye Agere