Meet Zim’s ‘bat doctor’

Brighton Zhawi
A FEW days before Zimbabwe’s first ODI against New Zealand at Harare Sports Club in August, Craig Ervine’s bat was broken.
However, Never Lundu worked round the clock to make sure that it was fixed by the time the batsman took the crease against the Kiwis.

With that bat, Ervine smashed an unbeaten 130 as the Chevrons stunned the visitors. Amid the euphoria, Ervine made it a point to pay tribute to Lundu for a great job.
Lundu is the “bat doctor” that has fixed bats for Chevrons skipper Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza, and Chamu Chibhabha, amongst others.
He was also trusted with attending the bats of Pakistan batsmen Mohamed Hafeez and Sohaib Maqsood during their recent tour of Zimbabwe.
The 24-year-old has played for the Mashonaland Eagles B side and is a 2007 Vigne Cup winner with Royal but many believe he is better at fixing bats than using them. But how did it all start?
“I started fixing bats in Seke 1 in 2012, assisting a guy called Sam Mwakayeni. I was just a helper but everything changed when one Lavert Masunda broke his bat and had no money to fix it so he encouraged me to copy mudhara Jigga (Mwakayeni) who was popular for that. We experimented and it worked,” he disclosed.
From then on, Lundu’s interest in the trade grew and he got further encouragement from Chibhabha who also entrusted him with the fixing of his bats.
Through Chibhabha, his customer base expanded to include Hamilton Masakadza, Reggie Chakabva, and Tinashe Panyangara, amongst other Chevrons. So how much does he charge for his services?
“We negotiate on prices, they pay what they have, but usually it starts from US $10 onwards. Replacing the handle is $15 or $20,” said the bat doctor who uses his bedroom as a workshop.
Ervine hailed Lundu’s craftsmanship.
“Lundu has done a fine job over the few months I have known him. I thank him for doing a great job reviving the broken soldiers,” he said.
Raza, who also scored a hundred against New Zealand with a Lundu-fixed bat, wished for more bats to break.
“The New Zealand 100 was from his fixed bat. I wish people break more and more bats so that he fixes them and earn more and more money,” said the batsman.
The national skipper Chigumbura scored his first home ton against India, again with a Lundu-mended bat.
“He is good, he saved my good bat,” said .Chigumbura.
Could it be that the more bats Lundu fixes the more tons for the Chevrons?