The Sunday News
Bruce Chimani Sunday Leisure Sports Correspondent
NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Tasmeen Granger is not your typical young woman. Clad in a tracksuit, trainers and the signature shades-on-cap cricket-players style, Granger recently made a courtesy call at the Sunday News newsroom barely a few days after jetting into the country from Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent the past few months playing cricket for Can Am United.
Can Am is a women’s cricket team comprising players from Canada, America and Metropolitan Cricket Club, a men’s team which plies its trade in the first league division.
So far Granger has scooped a number of awards at tournaments involving Can Am, a feat which shows how much of a force she has grown to become. She was crowned the Player of the Match in the games against Texas, the Invitational Team and Atlanta Pearls. She was also honoured as the Most Valuable Player at the tournament, the highest wicket taker and also the Bowler of the tournament.
At her age, Granger has defied all odds and shows promise of iconic stature as she continues to carry a passion to raise the Zimbabwean banner even to higher platforms. Her passion is displayed by how much she has achieved in her short stay in the United States of America where she is taken for the treasure she is by all who interact and have had the pleasure of playing with her.
She said playing for a men’s team was not easy, , but she did her best and proved that the level of cricket in Zimbabwe was not something to be taken lightly.
“The team has a low population of Americans; most of the men in it are of Indian, Caribbean or of West Indies origin. All that I can really say out of this experience with Metropolitan Club is that we do have a high standard of play in Zimbabwe. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t see myself playing for any of the competitive men’s teams here at home but there I was, I did it over there. I was actually the only female player in the whole league,” she noted.
Granger also revealed that she will be part of the Can Am team that will play in Argentina in March next year.
“I do not have much detail for now but I will be part of the Can Am team for an Argentine tournament next year. The tournament is organised by the Argentine women’s cricket.
“I am really looking forward to this tournament because it is also giving me another opportunity to be exposed to other players and types of play which is healthy for me as I develop my game. Being the only African in the Can Am squad is such an honour and I look forward to using all my experiences to develop the game back home,” said Granger.
Granger, who is also the captain of the Tuskers, the women’s cricket team leaves with the Zimbabwe women’s cricket national team tomorrow for a tournament in Botswana. She revealed that the Botswana tournament was a test for her to prove what she has been learning.
“It really is a test for me whether or not I have benefited from all the knowledge I have acquired while away in America as a player, especially what I got while playing for the men’s team. I have confidence in our national ladies. We had a very competitive display two weeks back in Harare at the Interf-ranchise tournament so I am hopeful for a great display again,” she noted.
Granger started playing cricket at the age of 13 at Petra High School where she played alongside the boys because there were no girls’ cricket team.
She says her passion for the sport had always been there but she got the final push after meeting former South African captain Graeme Smith and the Zimbabwe senior team after a match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
“I always liked the sport but after meeting Graeme Smith, the South African and Zimbabwean first teams, I got inspired to actually play, I was 13 then. I played with boys and I did learn a lot then. Eventually I got to play for Tuskers and I have been captaining the team since I was 17,” she revealed.
