Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo
THE Botswana Under-19 men’s national cricket team is set to make way to Bulawayo where they are scheduled to face Tuskers Under-19 in a four-match tour that gets underway today at Queens Sports Club.
The visiting Botswana Under-19 side will face Tuskers Under-19s in four one day matches. The visitors arrived in the City of Kings and Queens yesterday ahead of today’s opening encounter.
Tuskers General Manager Victor Mhlanga confirmed the tour saying that as the province, they have always enjoyed a good relationship and it will be good to welcome their Under-19 side. A Tuskers Under-19 side has already been selected and it’s a mix of players who have had a taste of cricket at the big stages and those who are still rising up the ranks.
The Tuskers Under-19 team is not only for the upcoming tour but a team for the future.
“We have always had good relations with Botswana so they are bringing in their Under-19s tomorrow and they will be playing our Under-19 team. We are hoping we are going to be able to use a majority of our Under-17s because in the next Cricket World Cup they are going to be the ones playing.
“We are giving these youngsters a chance to play first-class at this level, with Botswana coming here, that’s first-class cricket to the youngsters. We are also looking at developing our own cricket in the province, we hope to learn from Botswana and we hope to teach them something as well.
“We are looking at Tuskers, four or five years from today. These are the youngsters that are going to be making that team so we want to give them as much cricket as we are able to and when Botswana asks to come and play us, we are happy to do that because it’s going to give us a lot of cricket for the youngsters,” said Mhlanga.
The Tuskers Under-19 side will be under the tutelage of Farai “Slim” Gunda who said they have prepared well for the matches and it’s going to be good for the development and growth of the players.
“We have prepared very well with a lot of opportunities coming through. We have mixed up the team with a bit of experience and some young talent. For their development, this is a big thing, it’s not our first time playing Botswana and we have seen guys grabbing the opportunities and performing very well in terms of their skills.
“It’s also a very important thing for us as Tuskers to see where we are in terms of our junior development going forward. It’s a big thing playing against a national side from the SADC region that we haven’t done in a while so it’s going to be a good contest, and an interesting four days of cricket,” said Gunda.
Both Gunda and Mhlanga encouraged cricket enthusiasts to come through in numbers and support the youngsters while enjoying good games of cricket. The Tuskers Under-19 squad is made up of players such as Munashe Chimusoro who was at the recent ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup and other budding talents such as Rowyn Konson, Samuel Muyambo and Nawej Mutumwa.
The first two games will be played today, and tomorrow before the players take a rest on Sunday. They will return to the field on Monday and Tuesday for the remainder of the two games to round up the tour.
Tuskers Under-19 squad for Botswana Under-19 tour:
Munashe Chimsoro (wk), Samuel Muyambo,
Sean Phiri, Shelton Mvurwi,
Marcus Mpofu, Forgive Mwembe, Nate Hlabangana,
Darren Ncube, Brandon Ndiweni, Petros Sithole,
Taonga Dakwa, Rowyn Konson, Dylan Saudan,
Qhubekani Mlalazi, Takudzwa Maposa,
Tanya Takura, Pilate Ndlovu, Nawej Mutumwa.
Online Reporter