Premier League Wins Trillions

The sponsorship, which will be inflation-adjusted at the end of the season, was unveiled at a function in Harare on Thursday, and comes at the same time as a one-off Z$50bngrant to each of the 16 member clubs.The money has been broken down to cover, among other things, prize money, two sets of uniforms for all 16 clubs, medals and trophies, junior football, soccer star of the year awards, monthly player awards, league administration and soccer star of the year calendars.Last year, the bank announced a Z$600m package at the beginning of the 2007 season, later to be inflation-adjusted to $60bn.

National Team Coach Robin Brown.

Zimbabwe Cricketers Need to Mature, says Brown

HARARE

When former Harare Sports Club mentor Robin Brown led Zimbabwe’s talented young cricketers to a remarkable victory against world champions Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup, it appeared to be a dawn of a new era for Zimbabwe Cricket.But a nightmarish tour of Pakistan, in which the visitors suffered a 0-5 defeat, brushed away the good memories of the global showdown. Grace Chirumanzu caught up with National Team Coach, Robin Brown, for this exclusive interview.GC: What have you seen as the national team players’ weaknesses and strengths, since you took over from Kevin Curran last year?
RB: They have shown a big improvement; they have learnt to take responsibility of playing to their best. The batsmen are very impressive; their scores are building to reasonably big numbers and the spinners are doing very well. Our spinners are generally our strength at the moment.GC: Kevin Curran always pointed out inexperience as the main reason for the boys’ poor performance at international level. But these boys have been playing together for some reasonable time now to acquire the much-needed experience. What can you say as far as experience is concerned?RB: I think they have gained a lot more experience now but l believe it’s not the issue of experience. We have been performing badly. It’s maturity. A mature cricketer makes a good cricketer and experience comes through maturity.GC: I interviewed cricket analyst Dean du Plessis the other day. He was arguing that Zimbabwe cannot do without former veteran players saying it would be fantastic to have Brown as head coach, assisted by Heath Streak as the bowling coach. What is your comment on that? Can these young players do without the likes of Streak and Andy Flower among other former players?RB: Learning from experienced players is an asset. A coach will never deny advice from such players, and it always helps the young players. Alistair Campbell is always giving advice to the players and it is something we should appreciate.GC: I believe one of Zimbabwe’s weakness is that, as much as we have young talented batsmen, they are not as reliable as South Africa, who can rely on their Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis or AB De Villiers, or Australia, who count on Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist. Who do you think will grow into Zimbabwe’s next Andy Flower?
RB: Hamilton Masakadza, Sean Williams and Tatenda Taibu have put on their best show.GC: When Masakadza made his international debut as a teenager he recorded his first century against West Indies in 2002. Cricket followers developed faith in the youngster as one of the future’s best players but only last year, he was dropped from the squad for the ICC World Cup after becoming synonymous with ducks and low scores. Would you say Masakadza will get better with age or age is getting the better of him?
RB: I believe he is getting better with age; it is all about maturity, like l said before. With more time we will be expecting him to be back to his form.GC: Zimbabwe beat Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup last year. I always ask myself: Was it one of those things where cricket coaches say anything can happen in an ODI or are there extraordinary stars in the boys waiting to come out? How do you explain that victory?
RB: We played above ourselves and we wanted to win more than they did. I think that’s just the way we did it.GC: Why is Zimbabwe not living up to that standard?
RB: We are playing top sides and we really need to mature. Consistently beating the top sides takes hard work and a lot of time.GC: How do you sum up the team’s performance in the MTN Domestic League, which ended last week?
RB: We won five of the last six games and that shows a huge improvement.
GC: Next up is the Standard Bank Pro20 Series, which begins next week. How prepared are the boys?
RB: I think we will do well in the Pro20. Minimum expectation is to get to the semi-finals.

ZIFA Meeting Set for April

HARARE

Decisions to send two national teams to Malaysia and Vietnam will be one of the topics under discussion at the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) annual general meeting, which has been schedule for the capital next month.On the agenda for the AGM will be the Chairman’s report and a review of the 2007 season. A rundown of how ZIFA money was spent will also be presented along with details of the 2008 budget.Life members and honorary members of the national association will be confirmed at the meeting.

SA Could Lose Right to Host World Cup

PRETORIA

South African Sports Minister Mankenkesi Stofile’s plan to nationalise Bafana Bafana could invite the wrath of the world soccer governing body, FIFA.Worse still, SA could lose the right to host the 2010 world cup. The soccer body is clear about government interference in the smooth administration of soccer and can impose an automatic ban of the offending nation within six hours.FIFA President Sepp Blatter said: If government interferes in football affairs they will have to recognise that their clubs and national team will be excluded from international tournaments.Blatter’s uncompromising words were directed at countries like current European champions Greece, Spain, Poland and Bahrain, who have tried to weave government-sponsored programmes behind FIFA’s back.Under the proposed programme, Stofile hopes to bring all SA foreign-based players back home for two years so that coach Carlos Alberto Perreira can form a strong squad that will not embarrass the nation come 2010.There are questions, though, about how the Government would be able to pay professional players’ wages for two years, with Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy earning in the region of R3m a month.