Zimbabwe has perfect conditions for playing cricket, says Houghton

29 Mar, 2020 - 00:03 0 Views
Zimbabwe has perfect conditions for playing cricket, says Houghton Dave Houghton

The Sunday News

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe national cricket captain and coach, Dave Houghton says Zimbabwe has perfect conditions for cricket, that is why it was crucial to get the English county teams to tour the country again.

Houghton is in the country having come with Derbyshire County Cricket Club who however, had to cut short their stay in Zimbabwe due to concerns about uncertainty around potential travel interruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Another English county, Durham also headed home because of the same worries over the virus.

The 62-year-old, who is still in the country feels that the coming of the English teams is a great addition to the Zimbabwean domestic cricket calendar towards the end of the season. For Houghton, the great weather and world class facilities make Zimbabwe a perfect venue for cricket.

“It’s a good addition to the Zimbabwe domestic season, good end to the season, if they can, looking for sunshine with good facilities, Zimbabwe is a perfect destination. They have been going to the Middle East and South Africa so it is good to get them back to Zimbabwe, this is a great place to play cricket, they have great facilities,’’ Houghton said.

He narrated how the agreement for the county teams came about, with another former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell playing a part. It is Houghton’s hope that the coming of Derbyshire and Durham can lead to more county teams heading to Zimbabwe in future.

“We talked about during the UK winter in December, Zimbabwe Cricket sent an invitation to us, I managed to sell it to our board, it was financially viable to us. It was a mutually beneficial tour, it was nice to have them here and hopefully other counties can follow suit,’’ said Houghton.

What also made life easy for Houghton was the fact that some members of the Derbyshire board, including chairman Ian Morgan had already been to Zimbabwe as tourists.

“I played a role, Alistair Campbell sold the idea to ZC, I sold the idea to the Derbyshire board, they were very supportive. Some of the members of the board have been to Zimbabwe, they were happy.”

The coming of Derbyshire and Durham can go a long way in enhancing relations between ZC and England and Wales Cricket Board. The two county teams had to seek permission from their cricket board to tour Zimbabwe, something Houghton said the ECB had no issues with.

“Hopefully these tours can enhance relationships between the two cricket boards. We had to seek permission from ECB and they gave it straight away.”

Houghton is still in Harare since Emirates cancelled their flights to Zimbabwe and the man with the highest Test score for the country is glad to spend time with his two daughters as well as four grandchildren in the capital city.

“I love Zimbabwe, the fact that the start of the England cricket season is suspended until the end of May, no rush to get back to England, I am happy to wait for my flight. I have two daughters in Harare and four grandchildren, I haven’t been back since 2017, so it is good to catch up with my daughters and grandchildren,’’ the grandfather of seven said.

Houghton’s love for the game in Zimbabwe has not died, with the Bulawayo-born former batsmen keen to contribute in whatever way if called upon by ZC.

“My future plans are always to help whenever I can, I spoke to the ZC chairman, Zimbabwe Cricket is always in my heart, it will always be.”

Derbyshire played just one match against Zimbabwe Select, a Twenty20 contest the visitors won by 48 runs at Queens Sports Club.

Houghton was impressed by the batting exploits of former Under-19 star Wesley Madhevere and Tuskers Brian Chari.

“Our (Derbyshire) guys played really well, we were surprised because we had not played any match in the build up to that. There were one or two decent performances, Madhevere is a good player, Brian Chari played really well. Fielding was outstanding, what let them down was their bowling, that can be fixed with having a bowling plan. Their spinners bowled really well,’’ Houghton opined.

After spending years in England, Houghton came back home in 2010, won back to back Logan Cup titles with Matabeleland Tuskers before he took up a challenge with Southern Rocks. He left for England in 2014 where he joined Middlesex as batting coach. In August 2018, he left Middlesex for Derbyshire where he took up the role of head of cricket, a post he still occupies.

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