The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
NATIONAL women cricket team coach Trevor Phiri feels there is a need for the females to have their league in order to catch up with the rest of the world.
Speaking days after Zimbabwe were knocked out of the International Cricket Council Women World Cup qualifier staged in Sri Lanka, Phiri described the competition as tough. The country does not have a league for women which forces them to end up playing in male teams.
“The standard of cricket was just high, it is now up to us how we take our cricket, we need more game time, come up with club cricket for women, as long as we don’t do that we will always find it hard to express ourselves. It’s about playing more games, the teams we played have played more games. We tried our best, if you look at our game against Sri Lanka, as a coach I would take that as a positive. In the last game against India, we failed to come up with partnerships, failed to put runs on the board.
It was a learning curve, we need to work hard, play more games,’’ said Phiri.
Zimbabwe finished second from bottom in the five-team Group A with just one win, a 36-run victory over Thailand. The Sharne Mayers captained team suffered losses to Ireland, Sri Lanka and India. Had Zimbabwe managed to finish in the top three in their group, they would have earned a place in the ICC One Day International Championship where they stood a chance of playing against top countries in the global game. For Phiri, missing out on that opportunity is really painful, hence he has called for more game time for the girls.
“It is painful, I am disappointed, as a coach I should be honest, did we have enough games for us to compete against those teams? We need to try and cover that gap to be at the same level with those teams so that next time we are ready to match their standards,’’ Phiri said.
Some of the outstanding players in Sri Lanka were all rounder Mary-Anne Musonda who scored 113 runs at an average of 28.25 with a best score of 35 batting at number three. Precious Marange was the only Zimbabwean to win a player of the match accolade for her bowling display against Thailand.
Zimbabwean women are preparing to take part in a 50 over quadrangular series in May at different venues in Johannesburg, South Africa where they will play against Ireland, India and the host nation. Phiri is convinced those matches will help his team and wants more of such tournaments.
The women, who arrived in the country last Wednesday from Sri Lanka have been given a break and will resume training next month. Of the 14 players who went to Sri Lanka, most of them are contracted save for Tasmeen Granger who is playing and coaching in New Zealand.
@Mdawini_29
