1 January 2005
With the change over of organisation of the Falcon website I have been remiss in posting news about Falcon’s sporting success or otherwise over the past term. I trust that 2005 will see more regular updates. For the time being here is something of a resumé of sports events of the Third Term 2004. I apologise if the bias is rather towards cricket, but it is what I am most involved in and being such a statistical sport it is easiest to record individual achievements.
Basketball : Mr Isaac Museba has worked hard to ensure our basketball teams meet the high standards we expect of Falcon sportsmen, using his coaching expertise not just with the 1st team but also in the junior ranks. The teams have certainly held their own with very few losses at any level. The 1st team has largely been a young side with most of the key players returning in 2005 so hopes are high for this coming year. Ayanda Khumalo, the captain and an inspirational player, has now left but the likes of Mbonisi Dube who made the Zim schools side will be back. At junior level the U15 side is the one Isaac keeps talking to me about as the cutting edge of the future of Falcon basketball.
Tennis : Mr Adam Joelson and Mr Tabs Ndlovu took the 1st team tennis on a tour to Botswana in the August holidays. Adams’s view is that the team did very well. Against school sides they were too strong; against Botswana representative sides they were less successful but that is all part of the proverbial learning curve and one of the reasons for sending boys on tour. We did quite manage to beat CBC in the Mim du Toit, losing on countback of, not just matches, but games in a very exciting encounter. Otherwise I am pretty sure that the 1st team was unbeaten. The juniors had a chance to travel to Harare to play St John’s and Prince Edward. Admittedly we were not at full strength but it showed our boys just how much more competitive Mashonaland tennis is. Adam has done a lot of good work with our tennis over the two years he has been here and I have no doubt he is closing the gap. We’ll see the Mim du Toit trophy here in a few years time!
Waterpolo : losing Chris Davison at the end of 2nd Term left us without a waterpolo coach but Mr Jonathan Makola willingly stepped into the breach to look after the sport and with assistance from Mr Arthur Lucas once again, I think we did remarkably well. If the Crusader Shield is the acid test for Zimbabwe schools waterpolo, our third place was a fine achievement. The core of the team was Form 4 boys, four of whom made the Zimbabwe A and B squads : Greg Gavazzi (A side), Sean Kok, Ben Grobler, Scott Rogers and Grant Simpson (B side). Sadly Kok and Rogers have left but there remains the makings of a good side for 2005. Nick Kind, the captain, may not be the world’s greatest player in the water but deserves a lot of credit for motivating the team and keeping things together in a difficult period for the sport. Alistair Gibson has also done a sterling job with coaching the junior teams who themselves have done well over the term in Matabeleland though they rather came short in the Accorsi Cup.
Cricket : our 1st team has seriously lacked experienced players this year. After an uncertain 1st Term we hoped for better in 3rd Term and so it proved for the most part. In the holidays, St George’s hosted a 20/20 Festival, which by all accounts was an outstanding success. It was a so near yet so far experience for our team. A three run loss to St John’s and a tie with St George’s put us out of contention for the title, but as Dave Grant said, we were only 5 runs (one hit!) away from winning the whole thing. In our third game we were convincing winners over CBC. The Festival, it must be conceded was disappointing. Not because we lost to St George’s and Churchill who were the top two schools in Zimbabwe this year, but because we bundled things by 3 runs against Hillcrest – by no means a poor side but one we should have beaten.
So to the term season. In Matabeleland we were clearly the top side with good wins over CBC (twice), Milton and Petra. Peterhouse pipped us in both matches, which was disappointing, particularly the first where we threw away a good position. Alistair Roberts recorded the only century of the season against CBC but the batting honours really go to Gary Manchip. He has been a stalwart of Falcon cricket since his arrival in 1999 and has really held this side together in 2004, principally with his batting but also with his seam bowling and as captain. In the course of the term he also passed 1000 runs at 1st team level, only the 18th player to do so since 1980. He deservedly gained selection for the Zimbabwe Schools side at the trials in October. Paul Trethowan was the leading wicket-taker followed by Martyn Oosthuizen, the two of them shouldering quite a load in that department. Trethowan will be back this year and we look to him along with Graham Swanepoel who was probably the term’s most improved player (with bat and ball) and Alistair Holman to lead the charge this time around.
There is no doubt that Falcon cricket does not have the depth that it once had and this is particularly evident at junior level. The 2nd and 3rd teams both did pretty well although match opportunities were sadly limited. Even our junior results at both A and B team level (15As excepted – more of them later) are respectable but I feel that a lot depends on individual players coming off rather than strength in depth with lots of good players contending for promotion. Having said that it was pleasing to see the development of the U14 A side. Not one made it to the final Zim trials but by the end of the season all of them were contributing and working together to make a competitive team. Gareth Brown was the one who developed most as an all round player but if the team as a whole makes as much progress in 2005 as they did last term they will end up as a more than useful 1st team. The poor old 15 As took everyone by surprise when they beat Milton in their first match back in January but since then it has been an uphill struggle. Never a strong team they have lost a number of players over the year and when Terence Connor departed at half term they really were in a bad way. He recorded the highest score of the term, 153 v CBC, the second highest score ever by a U15 Falcon cricketer. No-one is doubting their efforts and losing is not a crime but it can be very disheartening to go down week after week. The likes of Jack Randle, Tapiwa Zindoga and Craig Thorpe all have the dreaded potential to come through. As their coach in 2005 I definitely hope they fulfil it! If I am hard on the 16 A side, I feel that they could have done better. There were some fine individual performances such as Jason Grahams 141* against Lomagundi and his opening partner, Jason Paterson’s 105* vs Peterhouse but two matches were lost which needn’t have been. The demolition of a useful CBC side in the return match showed just what they were capable of doing. Matthew Sanderson deserves mention for consistently performing well with both bat and ball and Matthew Bint bowled superbly at key times in the 50 over situation and well deserved his 5 wicket haul against Petra. His 20 ball 41* as much as his bowling of the final over ultimately helped us to the 1 run victory in the first match at CBC. Daniel Landman was not at his best but could be relied upon to chip in and he deservedly was chosen for the Zimbabwe U16 side with the two Jasons Graham and Paterson making the B side for matches against Namibia. Finally, I must also mention Michael Amos, Greg Howes and Rance Erasmus who all made centuries for the 16 Bs. That is a good achievement at any level.
Richard Harrison
1 January 2005