Another Zim gem breaks into MLS
US-BASED rising football star Farai Mutatu has been tipped to represent the Warriors in the near-future after he was picked by American football giants L.A Galaxy in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft last week.
Mutatu was one of the 44 collegiate soccer players who participated in the 2021 Adidas MLS College Showcase held in North Carolina early last month.
Interestingly L.A Galaxy arranged for Mutatu’s Chiredzibased parents Jane and Washington to make a surprise appearance and announce Farai’s selection by the club.
Mutatu has not seen his parents in person since 2014 when they moved back to Zimbabwe due to visa issues. Farai and his three siblings stayed behind.
He had no idea MLS had planned that appearance in advance.
“I am hoping he is going to continue working hard and be a star at L.A Galaxy which is a big club. We are so happy and I am sure he will be able to represent his country very soon, so we are excited,” Farai’s father Washington said during the telecast.
Mutatu joins two other Zimbabweans Teenage Hadebe and USborn right-back Edwin Munjoma in the US topflight league should he impress at his new club.
Four other Zimbabweans – the legendary Vitalis Takawira, Joseph Ngwenya, Mkhokheli Dube and Mubarike Chisoni – have played in the MLS.
Mutatu is set to take up one of the Galaxy’s international spots.
Called into the Zimbabwe U23s squad during his freshman year at Michigan State University Mutatu said he hoped to someday be brought into the Warriors first team.
“That’s definitely a goal,” Mutatu told the State Journal on Wednesday last week.
Born in Zimbabwe, Mutatu moved to the US in 2006 when he was about 6 years old, after his father was offered the opportunity to pursue a chemistry degree at Michigan State University.
Mutatu reflected on how his parents played a surprise role his MLS draft announcement
“I was the most surprised person in the room when I saw my parents’ faces on the screen and I think everyone in the room was just as surprised. It was definitely amazing and something I’ll remember forever.
“I was, honestly, even more surprised they were able to figure out how to use Zoom (for the draft) and get that together,” he joked.
Mutatu was in eighth grade in 2014 when his parents went back to Zimbabwe, seven years after the family relocated to Haslett from their native country.
Friends and family were proudly waving the Zimbabwe flag in the background Tuesday as they celebrated Mutatu’s selection.
Eventually, Jane and Washington got the audio working and spoke to draft host Andrew
Wiebe about what Mutatu's draft selection meant to them.
Although it has been eight years since they've interacted face-toface, Mutatu and his parents still communicate via WhatsApp and FaceTime.
“It’s been a while, even since the last time we talked,” Mutatu said. “But we communicate a lot better now. Hopefully soon (I'll see them)."
The forward had a breakout 2021 campaign for MSU, tallying
DISGRACED former Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak has turned to bass shing competitions and farming as he continues to serve his eight-year ban from all cricket activities for breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC)'s anti-corruption code.
Streak was found guilty of ve breaches of the ICC's code in March last year with his charges including revealing inside information which could be used for betting purposes and failing to disclose a payment in bitcoin from a potential corrupter to anticorruption o cials.
Now 47, Streak would be free to resume his involvement with cricket again on March 28, 2029 unless his sentence is reduced by the ICC.
But it appears he has already given up hope of resuming his professional coaching career after the ban and has now turned his attention to bass shing. “In eight years I will be 55 and I think it will be di - cult to get back into coaching at elite level then,” Streak said in a wide-ranging interview with Cricinfo.
“I've always shed. I haven't been able to do it as much because of cricket but now I am doing a lot of bass shing 7 goals and 3 assists in 17 matches. He finished his Spartan career with 13 goals and 8 assists in 67 appearances.
Mutatu was scheduled to fly out to Los Angeles on Friday night as pre-season camp starts tomorrow. and entering a few tournaments. I can't say I am okay but I am keeping busy and doing stu ,” the former Zimbabwe coach said.
Last year Streak was part of the shing Champion of Champions competition which was held at Kyle Dam in November where he nished an overall 16th with 15,54 points from a total of 15 catch counts. It waits to be seen if the rst Zimbabwean to reach 100 Test wickets will be as proli c in shing as he was bowling in international cricket.
In a cricket career that span 12 years Streak claimed 216 Test wickets and 239 in One Day Internationals as he holds the record for both versions of the game in Zimbabwe.
Streak was also a decent batsman with 1990 and 2943 runs in Tests and ODIs respectively.
The former Zimbabwe strike bowler has also committed to helping his father Denis run the farm and other family concerns.
“I believe we are very lucky to have a farm, so we will just crack on with what we have left. My dad and I are very committed to the farm and community.
“Things are tough. It's really not easy. With Covid-19, tourism has been almost non-existent,” Streak said.
Apart from the farm the Streaks also have a safari park, and a primary school that they built with the help of some donors from New Zealand.
Speaking about the incident which led to his ban by ICC Streak revealed that he rst came into contact with the corruptor Deepak Agarwal, in September 2017, who did so under the pretense of wanting to start a T20 league in Zimbabwe.
The two would agree to have a joint venture in that quest and the rest as they say is history.
"We were going to call it the Safari Blast, and look at playing it in the window just before the IPL. It would give players who wanted to get match-ready for the IPL that opportunity and would work well as pre-season time for the England summer.
“We pitched it to the then-CEO, Faisal Hasnain, and presented something to ZC,” Streak revealed.
However, according to investigations at this time Agarwal also made it clear to Streak that he was involved in betting on cricket.