Aimed at introducing cricket to all children so that coaches can identify talent from a young age, the Midwest Rhinos Street Cricket Challenge was recently launched in collaboration with South Africa-based company, Sporting Chance, on the streets of the high-density suburb of Mbizo in Kwekwe.
“It was fantastic. The kids had a great time on the field of play.
Some of the players showed great composure and talent. We hope that our coaches will quickly pounce to nurture the talent,” Midwest Rhinos franchise administrator, Kenyon Ziehl, enthused.
Midwest Rhinos area manager, Admire Marodza, also welcomed the advent of street cricket, saying it would impact positively on the development of the game.
“We are launching this game with the hope of catching the young players who do not have the opportunity to visit our grounds. This is a pilot project that we are introducing to our community. There is a lot of young cricket talent that is lying idle in our communities. So by coming up with this programme, we hope we will also give them a platform to expose themselves.”
Sporting Chance national development officer, Brad Bing, said: “Due to the elitist form that the sport of cricket has been associated with, we hope to involve as many children in the sport from all walks of life. By introducing street cricket, we do away with the expensive wickets and equipment as the only facility you need is a road, and there is plenty of that.”
Emthonjeni were the winners of the Midwest Rhinos Street Cricket Challenge, after they defeated BP in the final. There were six other teams in the tournament: Bu Stop, AFM, Junction, Tower Light, Kanzuru and Musimbe.
Post published in: Cricket