Logan Cup bursts into life
ON the eve of the Logan Cup opener, defending champions Mountaineers woke up to the news that their opening batsman Innocent Kaia was on the plane to Australia to play club cricket.
And no one was more surprised by the development, but the powers that be at the Manicaland-based outfit.
There was some last-minute ‘trading’ of Richmond Mutumbami from the Eagles to the Mountaineers.
And come match day - the heavy rains that poured for the most part of last week caused significant delay to the start of the Logan Cup.
Welcome to the 2019/20 Zimbabwe Cricket season- or as Zimbabwe Cricket boss Tavengwa Mukuhlani put it, upon the lifting of the ICC suspension, a new era in Zimbabwean cricket.
We wait and see, but for now Mountaineers, whose coach Shepherd Makunura is eying a record fourth successive Logan Cup title, has to make adjustments after 27-year-old Kaia became the third of their players to move to Australia for club cricket this summer. He joins wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga and Natsai Mushangwe who are also playing club cricket Down Under.
Add the loss of two retired legends Hamilton Masakadza and Forster Mutizwa (now an umpire), it’s definitely going to be an interesting time for the boys in green and gold.
“I think our secret is in playing as a team…the group has been together for a long time and they feed off each other, so they play for each other.
“That’s been very good for us over the years, “said Makunura.
“There are some big losses, Mutizwa and Masakadza have been the mainstay of our team for a long time.
“They have played pivotal roles for Mountaineers, for a very long time, but that’s the nature of sport guys.
“At some point, you have to retire. We have guys capable of taking over, not entirely fitting into the shoes straight away, but I think they will pitch up and raise their hands,” he said.
On the Kaia ‘secret move’, Makunura said: “That actually came as a surprise to me, I wasn’t aware.
“It’s a loss, we just have to move on and see who is the next best guy to come in.