Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) and Pakistan Super League (PSL) giants Lahore Qalandars have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at aiding the growth and development of cricket in Zimbabwe.
The agreement will see eight young Zimbabwean cricketers going to Pakistan for a four-month player development programme at the franchise’s high performance centre in Lahore. The programme is set to begin on 1 September.
Qalandars will reciprocate by sending five Pakistani fast bowlers, who clock bowling speeds of 140-kilometres per hour plus to play domestic cricket in Zimbabwe.
Commenting on the deal, ZC managing director, Givemore Makoni said it will help in fine-tuning players in Zimbabwe and make sure that they cover all the grey areas especially in fast bowling.
He added that they are grateful to the PSL giants for the opportunity to make sure that the Zimbabwean players’ talent gets polished.
“As ZC, we are very excited about this partnership. The guys that are going to spend time in Pakistan will be there for four months being fine-tuned at the highest institute of cricket learning where their talent is going to be polished so that they can compete at the highest level. At the same time, Lahore Qalandars will second five fast bowlers to our domestic competition, these are genuine quick bowlers that will be bowling around 140km per hour
“If you followed the (World Cup) qualifiers you would have noticed that we succumbed to express bowling in our game against Scotland and now we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that we have that calibre of fast bowlers in our setup.
“In terms of our cricket, we have now gone a gear up and focus and emphasis is now on high performance cricket. So we are very grateful to Mr Rana who has opened his doors for us to ensure ZC develops and grows and will produce genuine talent that can go on to perform at the highest level,” said Makoni.
Lahore Qalandars chief executive officer Atif Rana said the partnership will go a long way and is thankful to ZC for entrusting them with the responsibility to develop its players which will go a long way in reviving cricket in Zimbabwe.
“It’s an honour for us that Zimbabwe Cricket has trusted us with the confidence that we can help them out in developing their players. The facilities over there and the dedication and commitment from our coaching staff is commendable and I think that we have that system that we can revive Zimbabwe cricket.
“Thank you once again for giving us this opportunity and this partnership will go a long way,” said Rana.
The partnership is also a show of good relations that exist between Zimbabwe and Pakistan. The eight players who are going to Pakistan were selected during a nationwide talent hunt conducted by the Qalandars for the inaugural edition of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 tournament which came to an end yesterday in Harare.
Selected Players for the development programme in Pakistan:
Tinotenda Maposa, Tawanda Maposa, Tanunurwa Makoni, Marshal Takodza, Brighton Phiri, Lennox Chando, Davis Marwendo and Alex Falao. – Follow on Twitter @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter