adminDalphine Tagwireyi Sports Reporter
FORMER Matabeleland U-15 and Emakhandeni Cricket Club developmental player Busani Dube, who is a scorer administrator at Cricket South Africa yesterday handed over an assortment of cricket equipment to the junior developmental players at his former club. Dube said he was once part of the Bulawayo cricket development team at Emakhandeni Cricket Club from 1994 to 2002.
“My love for cricket started at a young age and though we did not have enough equipment, that did not deter us from taking up the sport and hence my donation to the young fellows because they need to have adequate cricket gear to develop in the sport,” said Dube.
He said during his pioneering days as a player, infrastructure was still being developed at the cricket club, and the current state of the pitch needed a makeover to give the young cricketers a feel of advanced equipment and infrastructure.
“A lot of work needs to be done on the infrastructure and I will continue to chip in here and there so that we develop the game and the boys deserve to have infrastructure that will make them competitive and not be intimidated when scouted for by developed cricket clubs,” he said.
Tuskers Cricket Club area manager Vumindaba Moyo said Emakhandeni club had a juniors programme that drew participants from various suburbs.
“The programme is meant to target the less privileged in developing their talent at grassroots level, hence we aim to assist these kids who have shown skill and expertise in the sport,” he said.
Moyo said he was also a member of the Bulawayo cricket development team with Dube and it was encouraging to see former players willing to assist the current crop of cricket players.
Dube said that he was working closely with the club as over the years he had managed to secure cricket premiership positions for former Emakhandeni players Mbekezeli Mabuza, Cunningham Ncube and Titus Chipare who are playing in the competitive league which saw Mabuza being voted the fourth best batsman in 2014.
“It is crucial to expose young players in developed leagues in South Africa as they can easily transit and play great cricket as it is hard for them to penetrate when they get identified at an older age,” he said.
The equipment which was donated yesterday include bats, balls, helmets, leg pads, thigh pads, gloves, sneakers and wicket keepers’ gloves.
Online Reporter