admin
Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER a rather subdued outing at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Zimbabwe vice-captain Regis Chakabva is not coming back home as he is looking to open a new chapter in his cricket career in Australia.
Apparently, the wicketkeeper/batsman has relocated Down Under with his family and will be playing club cricket with Bamawm-Lockington United, who are based in the Australian state of New South Wales.
In a wide-ranging interview with Riverine Herald of Australia, Chakabva revealed he moved to the region with his wife, Matilda, and his young son and daughter Ethan and Hannah.
“My family is here, we are staying in Moama,” he said.
Moama is a town in the Riverine district of southern New South Wales, Australia.
“The plan is to stay in Australia for quite a while. Obviously be with Bamawm-Lockington United (BLU) for quite a few years, I’m just looking at that and excited about that.
“Everything has been good. It is quiet and the family is enjoying it.”
The process of working through everything for Chakabva to be able to join BLU was something that was years in the making. BLU president Matt Hamilton said everyone was delighted to have him at the Lions.
“It is pretty amazing, words don’t describe it,” Hamilton said.
“The club is super excited to have Regis on board after the process that we have been through. We have had many helpers along the way, and the support from local businesses has been fantastic.
“There is an opportunity for a family, and the cricket club is very excited and proud to be able to support a family to come to our community.”
Chakabva is available for selection for BLU’s opening clash of the Goulburn Murray Cricket season against Leitchville-Gunbower today.
Hamilton joked that BLU would offer a different experience to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Chakabva was part of the action watched by 82 000 fans when Zimbabwe played India in their last Super-12 game.
“Last Sunday there were 82 000 people watching, this weekend he might have that many gum tree leaves looking at him instead,” he said.
“I am sure he will be absolutely fantastic for the club. The way Regis can relate to people is truly amazing. A lot of people across the area will gain a lot of benefit from having Chakabva on the cricket field and in the community.”
The move could mean that Chakabva will not be available for the Zimbabwe domestic cricket season, thereby minimising his chances for national team selection. He has played for Alliance Health Eagles for over a decade and won trophies along the way.
Chakabva, who made his international debut in 2008, said he was still keen to continue playing for Zimbabwe.
“In terms of how that is going to work out with Zimbabwe, I am obviously still hoping that I can keep on going with my international career for however long I can.
“We have had a good conversation with the guys back home and they are quite understanding of where I am at this point in time.
“At this point in time, the games are mostly going to be after the season.
“So at least when the season is done, I will be a lot more free and open to head back home and continue with that.”
The 35-year-old has played more than 100 international matches for Zimbabwe across all formats.
“He featured in all of Zimbabwe’s games at the T20 World Cup, going up against powerhouses India, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan.
In the lead-up to this year’s tournament, Chakabva captained the Chevrons in both of their one-day series against Australia and India.
The move from international cricket to the GMC is certainly a unique one, though.
Chakabva has travelled the world and played on the biggest stages in world cricket in his 14 years of international cricket, including this year’s World Cup — an experience he said was hard to describe.
“It is amazing.
“Those experiences, especially the last game against India at the MCG, playing in front of 82 000 people, I don’t think there are a lot of ways you can go about describing that, it is just unbelievable,” Chakabva said.
Zimbabwe reached the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup after finishing on top of their pool — which consisted of the West Indies, Ireland and Scotland — in the group stages.
The Chevrons only recorded one win in the Super 12s, but it sure was memorable — a dramatic one-run win over a Pakistan side that has gone on to reach the final of the tournament.
“We really enjoyed it. Probably one of the biggest things for us was seeing the support that came through from back home and the Zimbabwe community in Australia as well,” he said.
“It has been a long career, there have definitely been a few really good moments along the way.
“But I think one of them has to be the win we had against Pakistan in this world cup. It was probably one of the biggest moments for us.
“At that point we had quite the chance to make it into the semi-finals. We had a lot of messages coming through about ‘dare to dream’.
“The fact that it really looked like we inspired a nation and we brought a lot of smiles to a lot of people’s faces, that was certainly quite an achievement for us.”
He said for national teams like Zimbabwe, the opportunity to face off against the world’s best teams was a key way to help improve.
“For every small nation, if I can put it like that, the only way to really get better is to play a lot of cricket initially, but also to play much bigger teams than yourselves, that definitely helps to try and improve the standard as well,” he said.
Online Reporter