Zimbabwe Cricket will send three national age group teams to the eighth Eastern Junior Club Cricket Association (EJCCA) festival which takes place in Brakpan near Johannesburg in South Africa next week.
EJCCA will run from July 4-8 and Zimbabwe will field teams in the Under-14, 16 and 18 age groups.
Other countries who will take part in the annual festival include Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana while there will also be strong South African provincial representation from Easterns, Griqualand West from Kimberley and KwaZulu Natal.
Former national cricket team pace bowler David Mutendera will be in charge of the Under-14 team while Wayne James and Walter Chawaguta will take charge of the Under-16 and 18s respectively.
Mutendera told NewsDay Sport in an interview yesterday his side was ready for the tournament having started preparations in January.
“The youngsters are looking forward to the tournament where they will have an opportunity to play some T20s and ODIs. This is probably the first time some of the kids in this team will be representing the country and it’s a special moment for them.”
“The preparations started in January, but the final team was named only after the inter-franchise age group tournament in April and we have been preparing since then,” he said.
Prince Edward School’s Tatenda Chiradza will captain the national Under-16 team which is dominated by players from Harare-based franchise Mashonaland Eagles who provide 10 of the 13 players with five of them from St John’s College.
The EJCCA is one of South Africa’s premier development festivals where there is no declared winner.
However, the festival Team Award is given to the team which displays the highest level of discipline, adherence to the proper dress code, general manners and encouragement on the field of play.
Zimbabwe Under-14 Team: Manson Chikowero, Robert Chiminya, Alvin Chiradza, Graham Curtis, Alistair Frost, Ton Harrison, Munyaradzi Kasvaurere, Munyaradzi Madhombiro, Richard Matewa, Tinashe Nenhunzi, Liam Roche, Rahul Vaghmaria, Damian White.
Zimbabwe Under-16: Tatenda Chiradza, Tabayz Butt, Kieran Dunn, Bradley Evans, Kyle Hopper, Adam Keefe, Richard Lock, Edward Byrom, Blessed Muzite, Kush Patel, Dean Peall, Takudzwa Takodza, Mark Hulbert.
Any news on the results here? We are coming to the end of the tournament.
Eager to see the progress of Tatenda Chiradza, Brad Evans and Ed Byrom. Keith Jaure is missing though. Is Dean Peall related to Stephen?