‘We endured’: Black cricket’s spiritual home in Zimbabwe finally gets international recognition

Bill Flower realized 30 years ago that cricket would not survive, much less thrive, in Zimbabwe unless it reached out to the black majority country and found a place in their hearts.

Part of his plan finally came to fruition two weeks ago when Takashinga Cricket Club, located in one of the country’s oldest black villages, hosted an international game for the first time.

The spiritual home of black cricket in Zimbabwe, where the players looked after the pitch and planted the grass themselves in its early days, finally became a full-fledged international venue when the West Indies defeated the United States in a Cricket World Cup qualifier on 18 June.

It was a landmark match where Takashinga lived up to his name meaning we stuck to the local Shona language.

It’s absolutely fantastic and I know my dad would be very proud to see it and I’m certainly proud,” said Bill Flowers’ son Andy, the former Zimbabwe captain and England Ashes winner whose impressive resume includes a stint as a Takashinga player. .

Zimbabwe will qualify for the World Cup in India later this year if they beat Scotland in their qualifying tournament on Tuesday. This makes Takashingas appearance on the international stage even more special, even though Zimbabwe, a regular participant in the World Cup, did not play there during the qualifiers.

Bill Flower started in the early 1990s, digging deep into his own pockets to coach black kids from Harare’s Highfield village, where Takashinga is. Back then, there were almost no cricket pitches in Highfield, and families could not afford to send their children to the Harare Sports Club for training. Bill Flower used his reputation as a respected coach and his own car to take them to a prestigious club.

At Highfield, he discovered talent such as Tatenda Taibu, who was nine years old when he joined Flowers’ coaching staff. Taibu became Zimbabwe’s Test captain.

Bill Flower also noticed that Highfield had potential beyond the players. A small group had just started the Takashinga Cricket Club and it was an obvious opportunity to build something bigger.

Andy Flower, Zimbabwe’s best player at the time, took over from his father as he saw Highfield as crucial to cricket in the South African nation, which was under white minority rule until 1980 and struggled with racial tensions for years afterwards. A big name white player, he decided to join the relatively unknown Takashinga team.

I knew how committed they were to building the club, Andy Flower said. I thought it was helpful to get a little bit of my experience, go there and work with them in training, during games, talk to them in the locker room.

I thought it would help speed up their development. I thought the bonus would be a mix of black and white. It was a special time in my life.

Takashinga has produced more and more players, including five national team captains so far. Stephen Mangongo, one of the founding members of the club, became Zimbabwe’s coach.

Takashinga subconsciously spread confidence among blacks to take cricket seriously across the country, Mangongo said.

But the transformation would not be complete until cricket was played at the highest level at Highfield.

The match list didn’t really work. It wasn’t Zimbabwe, who have five players in the current squad with Takashinga connections. But the West Indies were a good second choice, a team that has won two World Cups and made more progress in black cricket internationally than any other.

I’m so excited to finally see them live. I hope to watch more big games here, said Sakina, an 8-year-old black girl from Highfield who was in Takashinga for that landmark West Indies-USA match, supporting the West Indies who won by 39 runs, but Later, he didn’t make it to the World Cup.

Sakinas School is a few streets away from Takashinga and he plays cricket at an academy set up by Elton Chigumbura, one of the former Zimbabwe captains who played for Takashinga.

My father’s passion is football but I love cricket more, he added. One day I want to play in Zimbabwe and play many games here in Takashinga.

Sakina is a perfect example of Takashingas ability to influence the lives of young people, but the club touched all generations.

Now 50, Nathaniel Mavima, who lives in Highfield, knew nothing about cricket until the club started gaining recognition in the early 2000s.

I’ve been a big fan for 20 years, Mavima said. Over the years, this lot has become more of a community center.

Hamilton Masakadza, another Takashinga success story who played for Zimbabwe for 18 years, said it was bittersweet that he missed out on his old international debut because he was working as Zimbabwe’s current director of cricket.

But he remembered the day it was officially opened in 2003 by West Indies great Brian Lara, whose team was on tour and used Takashinga as a training ground. A plaque still hangs in the Takashingas clubhouse acknowledging the moment one of the greatest players to ever pick up a cricket bat opened up the country.

It was another two decades of hosting international cricket and Trevor Garwe never missed a moment. A former Takashinga bowler who played one game for Zimbabwe in 2009, he returned to his old club to work as venue manager for the World Cup qualifiers.

He said the first game was for the children of Highfield, who still cannot afford to watch the sport they love in other stadiums.

Takashinga has brought it home, Garwe said.

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