Chevrons have just been demolished by Afghanistan Cricket. Something you would have never said in 2002 or 2015, we even hoped not in 2022 either. But this is what it has come to. A difficult one to swallow and every expert has an answer and a reason.

For example, if international cricket is not played at Harare Sports Club then it’s definitely at Queens Sports Club, then how do you get kids in Gweru, Kwekwe , Masvingo , Victoria Falls , Chinhoyi, Mutare and all the other major towns get inspiration at the very least, how do the fans get accustomed to the sport, how do the fans embrace it? How does the country embrace a cricket culture if only those in the two biggest cities get to watch international cricket? Well, you wondering how it connects to youth, it does in every way. Most if not all of the youngsters are from Harare or within the Harare Metropolitan province or Bulawayo, reflecting exactly where the little cricket culture left in Zimbabwe is. Maybe international cricket beyond the two major cities is farfetched but at least cricket development taken seriously in different provinces through schools. Like it or not, the Chevrons are the best national sports team Zimbawe has, imagine Zimbawe warriors facing the likes of Uruguay, Ghana or USA every now and then, that would mean they have a higher rating in the sport hence face high quality teams. That’s the case with the Chevrons, a very deprived sport in the country and yet they have to face teams only in the top 15 globally. A simple sign is the fact that 3 ODI’s and 3 T20I’s have just been completed in Zimbabwe’s own backyard and the national broadcaster did not have the rights to broadcast the matches. 90% of the population don’t know how their most successful sport have been doing or at least don’t care. The Harare Sports Club barely had any fans for all 6 matches after a long period with no international action and that’s a bad sign. For me, cricket has to start having a big impact in schools, I can tell you that I’m personally excited about school boy rugby over the weekends and it’s me plus a lot of other fans. That kind of buzz needs to come to cricket, make it special, make it real, give it a competitive edge, invest in it and give it the airtime it deserves.

Well here’s what I have to say, I’m going to start by giving a proper hats off to the guys we have playing for the country currently. They’re trying to change a bad cycle but it’s pretty difficult to even imagine they can. We have young blood getting game time and that for me is a good thing, it can’t be all bad right. On the other hand the depth of the younger crop is not deep enough if the board have decided youth empowerment is the way to go. If we are to build the the team from the youth level then we need to go all in. Dion Myers, Wessley Madhevere, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Milton Shumba, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Clive Madande and Brad Evans is pretty much all plus or minus 5, simply not enough for a whole nation banking on a youth model. These kind of results were to be expected but as a full member of the ICC heavy defeats are simply not acceptable in any case. The boys need to put up a fight but it’s difficult if the conditions are not exactly in favour of the players effecting the change.

“A Test match against Australia in their conditions would be great development for our players, who would really look forward to the challenge.”

chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani

Next on the agenda is qualification for the T20 world cup hosted by Zimbawe and surely the Chevrons will be looking to get to the global showpiece at the very least. The world cup being hosted by Australia. On that note the Chevrons visit the Aussies on a 3 match ODI series as part of the ICC WORLD CUP qualification competition.