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Stephen Mangongo

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Under-19 team coach Stephen Mangongo says they have left no stone unturned in their preparations for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 after he trimmed his squad down to 15 players yesterday. Mangongo announced his troops of some of the best schools talents captained by St George’s College all-round Liam Roche with Milton Shumba, one of the fast developing youth players on the domestic scene, as the deputy.

Shumba, who recently made his first class debut in the Logan Cup and top scored with 61 runs albeit in a losing cause for Rising Stars against Mountaineers, was one of the many players Mangongo lavished with praise when he addressed the media yesterday. The World Cup showcase is scheduled to run from January 13 to February 3, 2018 in New Zealand where Zimbabwe have been placed in Group B alongside Papua New Guinea and heavyweights India and Australia.

Mangongo also called up promising England-based Donald Mlambo. The Academy product has played for Suffolk at all age groups since the age of 11 and is a member of the Suffolk Development squad in 2017. The Zimbabwe squad features some players with experience of playing in the South Africa schools system. These include Alistair Frost (Hilton College, SA), Tinashe Nenhunzi (Durban High School, SA) and Taun Harrison a student on Scholarship in the Western Cape.

Harrison was voted the best performer during the Cricket South Africa Under-17 Week. Marshall Takodza, who plays at Glenwood High School in Durban, failed to make the squad but was named among the five non-travelling reserves that also include 15-year old Tawanda Muyeye, a revelation at the recent schools T20 tournament.

Muyeye follows in the footsteps of former Churchill High School prodigy Wesley Madhevere, who is set to make his second World Cup appearance in New Zealand after a memorable debut last year when he was just 15 years old.

Zimbabwe have been preparing for the tournament for the last two years. Mangongo said he was satisfied with the preparations which have seen them making tours around the globe to countries such as India, Australia, Malaysia, Namibia and South Africa.

The Zimbabwe Under-19 side has also played lots of cricket at home where they hosted Namibia, Kenya and the West Indies and Mangongo is happy with the support he has received from Zimbabwe Cricket.

“The boys have had a long journey. We started with 88 boys from the country’s 10 provinces and the two year programme has been very hard and difficult. It is an honour to have worked with such kind of boys who cherish the dream to eventually represent their country at the highest level.

“So these boys are living a dream and hopefully in a few years’ time or in few months’ time we will see some of the graduate into higher levels of cricket. So this is really serious business. I would also at this moment want to thank ZC. “This is never happened where an Under-19 team goes through such rigorous preparations.

‘‘I think yesterday I was talking to the boys and I said ‘you have prepared more than any other team in this country ever in the history of this game in terms of the resources which have been put by ZC. The amount of tours these boys have gone, globe-trotting starting with Malaysia, Namibia, Cape Town, Benoni, Australia, India with one goal to eventually have the final 15 boys and today I’m happy to announce the 15,” said Mangongo.

The team is scheduled to intensify its preparations next week when they leave for Kwekwe for a 10-day camp. They will play four matches against Zimbabwe select as part of the drilling process during the camp. The technical staff will also have more intensive sessions with the boys zeroing in on tactics, game plan and role-play so that by the time they leave for New Zealand every player will be clear of what is expected of him and how to execute.

Mangongo said the team will travel to New Zealand three weeks earlier to acclimatise with the different weather conditions. Zimbabwe finished 10th at the last World Cup after losing to Afghanistan in the Plate Championship final. Mangongo said the Under-19 deserved all the support because they represent the future of Zimbabwe cricket. “The last World Cup we finished 10th. It was an improvement from the previous one where we finished 15th. We are definitely looking to make sure that we keep improving,’’ said Mangongo.

Zim Under-19 Squad
Gregory Dollar (Wkt), Donald Mlambo, Liam Roche (captain), Tanunurwa Makoni, Jayden Schadendorf, Milton Shumba (vice-captain), Alistair Frost, Nkosilathi Nungu, Jonathan Conolly, Dion Myers, Wesley Madhevere, Kieran Robinson, Robert Chimhinya, Tinashe Nenhunzi, Taun Harrison.

Non-travelling reserves: Marshall Takodza, Dane Schadendorf, Tawanda Muyeye, Struan Moore-Gordon, Dion Mazhawidza