Clive Thabo Dube
Sports Reporter
CRICKET is one of the most popular and followed sport in Zimbabwe, the game is filled with top notch action and thrills.
The development of the bat ball is largely attributed to academies who have been churning out the country’s great cricket players.
Several legends in every sport have gone through grassroots level development to become world-class in their discipline. This has seen modern day sport largely rely on academies to give devoted youngsters all the knowledge and skills needed before turning pro.
In Bulawayo, Elton Chigumbura Cricket Academy is set to provide all facets of training to young cricketers who dream of playing at professional level. As the name itself implies, the academy is the brainchild of the Zimbabwean veteran Elton Chigumbura.
The former senior national team captain founded the club in 2021 after he hanged his bat in 2020. The academy was initially launched in Harare before making its way to Bulawayo.
Kennedy Chanetsa, the coach in Bulawayo said the academy’s sole aim is to create first-class cricketers by nurturing their talent from a tender age.
“Our target as an academy is to develop more talent for the country. If you look at the crop of players that we have now is limited. We are rotating the same players over and over again. This is where we come in to create a bigger pool for the national team to have more players involved in the national side.” Said Chanetsa in an exclusive interview with Zim GBC News
The Academy based in McDonald’s arena formerly known as Heath Streak grounds boasts of products such as Qhubekani Mlalazi, Sydney Ndlovu, Joshua Armstrong, Sandile Ndlovu, Lwandile Sibanda amongst others who are part of the Chevrons in various age groups as well regional team, (Matabeleland Cricket Team).
Huge strides with big dreams are the aims but poor stadia, training equipment and lack of funding has seen multiple sporting disciplines in the country drown. The major area of concern being the facilities for all sports codes in the country.
When players go outside the country, the performance is not at par with that of opponents as the players would not be familiar with good playing grounds or fields.
Recently, the Bulawayo based academy traveled to Botswana for a tour and the results were not satisfactory. The youngsters were used to playing on grass than Astro turf.
“We traveled to Botswana with the U-13s and a bit of U-11s. Unfortunately we lost all our games down there. One of the challenges being that in Botswana they play on astro turf, here in Zimbabwe we play on grass. So some kids couldn’t adapt to the new playing environment because on astro turf, the ball bounces more than on grass. But a few managed to adapt which is good for their development.” He said.
To further development in cricket, there is need for Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and the Corporate world to pour in funds necessary to see development initiatives come to fruition. Not only in cricket but for other sports codes in the country.
The seasoned coach urged ZC to come up with a stipulated cricket calendar for grassroots level which will involve all schools around the country.
Lwandile Sibanda the U-13 Captain said it is a great honor to be playing for the Elton Chigumbura Academy which could be ranked higher in their category, but low confidence within the team is a problem.
“We could be number one but our confidence level is still low. But as the captain of the team, l motivate my boys not to be scared of their opponents.” Said the leg-spinner.