adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
BAINES Junior Dumisani Mankunzini Winter Cricket Festival holders, Mtshingwe Primary School, have been handed a relatively easy draw in this year’s edition that starts tomorrow and ends on Sunday. Twenty primary schools from Bulawayo and four invitational sides are competing in the fourth edition of arguably the biggest developmental cricket tournament in the country.
The teams have been grouped into four groups, with Mtshingwe, host school Baines Junior, Botswana’s Cubs Cricket Academy and Alberton Cricket Club of South Africa seeded.
Mtshingwe were drawn in Pool B with Imbizo, Mgiqika, Hugh Beadle, Mpumelelo and Henry Low.
Only the top two teams will proceed to the quarter-finals.
Baines, inaugural winners in 2012, are favourites to go through to the quarter-finals from Pool A, which also has Future Stars Academy, Fairbridge, Insukamini, Indlovu Iyanyathela and Greenfield.
Future Stars Academy is made up of players from Petra, Whitestone and Masiyephambili Primary schools, and are among the title favourites.
Pool C, which is regarded as the group of death, comprises Alberton Cricket Club, Gampu, Helemu, Newmansford, Induba and Harare’s Takashinga Cricket Academy.
Alberton, Gampu and Takashinga are Pool C’s favourites.
The last group has 2013 winners Milton Junior, Cubs, Josiah Chinamano, Nketa, Godlwayo and Thomas Rudland.
Ndaba Moyo, spokesman for the tournament organisers, said they were ready to host the competition.
“Schools have been supportive of this initiative and we’ve grown from strength to strength with each passing edition. Having 24 teams participating is testimony to the amount of work that has been put into the development of cricket. We are really looking forward to a fun-filled children’s cricket weekend,” Moyo said.
In the build-up to the finals, organisers sent qualified cricket coaches to schools so that all the teams are at least on the same level on the day of the tournament.
“Everything is set for the tournament and our coaches have been to schools giving them free training sessions so that we have competitive teams battling it out. We have managed to source T-shirts for participating schools and we will also have an exhibition game pitting professional cricketers and a select side,” said Moyo.
Logan Cup winning coach with Matabeleland Tuskers, Wayne James, Babongile Sikhonjwa, B-Metro editor Limukani Ncube, fringe national team player Brian Chari, Thabo Mboyi, Tuskers’ area manager Vumi Moyo, Arthur Mpuli, development coaches Trevor Phiri and Christopher Phiri, as well as Titus Chipare, are some of the people set to participate in the exhibition game.
Former Matabeleland Tuskers Cricket Franchise and national Under-19 leg spinner Dumisani Mankunzini is the brains behind the competition, which has become a major event in the primary schools’ calendar over the years.
The competition started with four teams in 2012 and grew to 12 schools last year.
Draw
Pool A: Baines, Future Stars, Fairbridge, Insukamini, Indlovu Iyanyathela, Greenfield
Pool B: Mtshingwe, Imbizo, Mgiqika, Hugh Beadle, Mpumelelo, Henry Low
Pool C: Alberton Cricket Club, Gampu, Helemu, Newmansford, Induba
Pool D: Cubs Cricket Academy, Milton, Josiah Chinamano, Nketa Primary, Godlwayo
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