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Tatenda Taibu

Lovemore Zigara in Gweru
THERE was an overwhelming turnout for trials conducted by Zimbabwe Cricket convenor of selectors Tatenda Taibu at Kwekwe Sports Club for his United Kingdom-based academy.

Cricketers between the ages of 18 and 22 drawn from Midlands and Mashonaland West provinces all tried their luck under the watchful eye of the former national team skipper.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman expressed satisfaction with the talent he witnessed.

“We will only be selecting 15 cricketers that I will take to the academy once we finish the trials, which we are conducting across the country,” said Taibu, who is also responsible for ZC’s player development.

The chosen cricketers will be nurtured in a different environment where he hopes they will take advantage of good infrastructure to develop into fully fledged players.

He said trials were being held to ensure they selected the best players.

Similar trials will be held in Harare, Mutare, Masvingo and Bulawayo.

Taibu made his first class debut at the age of 16 and is passionate about cricket development in Zimbabwe.

In 2016, he launched the Gweru High Performance Centre, which nurtures young cricket talent from primary school level and pledged to support the centre through sourcing resources on its behalf.

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