The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN Zimbabwe national Under-19 cricket team captain Dion Myers leads the team at next month’s International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, other leadership responsibilities will be waiting for the youngster back home.
Just to show that he is a true leader on and off the field of play, in addition to being the Zimbabwe Under-19 captain, Myers is also head boy at Saint George’s College for the year 2020 where he serves as the first team cricket skipper.
The 17-year-old will be captaining the Prosper Utseya-coached Zimbabwean juniors at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa from 17 January to 9 February. For Myers, this is his second appearance at the tournament since he was part of the Zimbabwean team when the last Under-19 World Cup took place in New Zealand at the beginning of 2018.
He played at the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup when he was just 15.
Myers, a batting all-rounder who also bowls medium pace is delighted to have been named Zimbabwe captain for the tournament. He feels that his responsibility is to ensure that the team does well at the Under-19 World Cup.
“It’s honestly such an honour and it’s very humbling for me to get this opportunity at my age, leading your country is something not everyone can do and I’m delighted the selectors have shown faith in me for this job. Now it’s my responsibility to ensure our team does well at this World Cup and the only way we will do that is if we continue to be as united as we have been leading up to this point,’’ Myers said.
Myers does not only play cricket, with hockey also another sport he has represented the country in at Under-19 level where he was once the vice-captain.
Between cricket and hockey, he has to also find a balance with his studies since he is heading into Upper Six in 2020. This has meant that he has had to cut down on time spent with friends in order to give attention to cricket, hockey and his school work.
“I’ve always had to balance school with my cricket and hockey. I haven’t really found difficulties in that yet. Also, with the help from father, Daniel, in always pushing me to do more school work, which always helps. What I really had to get used to was now sacrificing time with friends as I had a lot on my plate and just have a few less hours of sleep.”
Myers started off national team leadership duties at Under-14 and has been playing for the Under-19s since he was 15. His older brother Jack used to play for the Zimbabwe Under-19 and was captain of the team for a few of the tours some years ago.
Just to show his leadership prowess, Myers has captained all the teams he has played for at St George’s College in cricket as well as hockey. He also had a stint as the St George’s College Under-15 football captain.
Zimbabwe Under-19 national cricket team for World Cup
His parents are his main source of inspiration since they are always there to support him whenever he takes to the field of play. The youngster has been playing cricket from the age of three and his parents made the decision to take him to Hartmann House where he developed into an all-rounder.
“My parents are definitely my biggest fans, they have invested so much time into my sport and allowed me to play any sport I desired to. Every time I had a match for any sport, they’d always be there on the touch line cheering me on,” he said.
Dion Myers
It has been a fruitful 2019 for Myers who was voted Player of the Tournament at the CABS Smashing T20 held at St George’s College’s and Best all rounder at the St John’s College’s Ram Slam.
Zimbabwe have been drawn to play against Bangladesh, Pakistan and Scotland with all their pool matches to be played in Potchefstroom.
They face Bangladesh at JB Marks Oval on 18 January, clash with Pakistan at the Witrand Oval on 22 January before they square off against Scotland at the same venue three days later. Myers is looking forward to the team playing as a cohesive force in order to finish in a respectable position.
“What would make me happy is if we all stay united throughout the tournament, play to our game plan and execute our skills well on the day of the game knowing that we’ve given our all as a team would definitely bring us peace,’’ Myers said.
The Zimbabwean youngsters leave for Durban, South Africa on Tuesday for a quadrangular series which starts on Friday. India, New Zealand and South Africa are the other countries lined up to take part in this four-nation series that is running up to 9 January.
From there, Zimbabwe play two warm fixtures ahead of the start of the Under-19 World Cup. Zimbabwe take on England in Johannesburg on 12 January and clash with India in Pretoria two days later.
At the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, Zimbabwe finished 11th out of 16 teams, having taken 10th spot at the 2016 tournament staged in Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe squad for ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup: Dion Myers (captain), Wesley Madhevere (vice-captain), Emmanuel Bawa, Privilege Chesa, Gareth Chirawu, Ahomed Rameez Ebrahim, Dylan Grant, Brandon James, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tadiwanashe Nyangani, Luke Oldknow, Samuel Ruwisi, Dane Schadendorf, Milton Shumba, Taurayi Tugwete.
Non-travelling reserves: Brighton Chapungu, Nkosilathi Nungu, Rodney Mufudza, Kudakwashe Macheka, Matthew Welch.
@Mdawini_29
