January 2003
The new sporting year got under way last Saturday with basketball, waterpolo and cricket teams in action against CBC. Most of our top players from last year’s successful basketball side had left so this term is inevitably going to be a bit of a rebuilding process but we are fortunate that Mr Isaac Museba has joined the staff. In the past he has been involved in College basketball in the States and for a number of years has coached the Zimbabwe national team. He will be a real asset to the school on the sporting front and obviously in particular relating to basketball. Sadly on Saturday the team went down 30-20 but the coach is optimistic that we will win a future return match.
Water Polo
The first waterpolo tournament of the season also took place at CBC
and our 1st team also boasted a new coach. Mr Chris Davison has
arrived from Peterhouse and not only has he taken on the waterpolo but
he will also be in charge of the 1st team hockey next term. He is also
being used to take physical education lessons during morning school,
which we trust will help the general fitness, co-ordination and ball
skills of the boys at the College.
On Saturday, our waterpolo team was down at Plumtree for a tournament there where they were beaten by both CBC and Plumtree. On the other hand, our U16 team beat both those schools convincingly the previous Thursday. Our 1st team is pretty young and includes a number of U16 boys so there is hope for the future.
Cricket
On the cricket field the 1st XI got off to
a flying start. Davie Crouch won the toss and chose to give CBC first
use of the pitch which proved an inspired move with unexpected life
making batting tricky for the visitors and our bowlers exploiting the
potential. Tapfumo Musekiwa took 3-29 as the opening bowler and the
two left arm spinners, Stan Marisa and Sean Williams, each picked up
two.119 was our victory target and thanks to sensible, confident
batting the two openers, Gary Manchip and Sean Williams, carried their
bats to record an excellent 10 wicket victory, scoring 51 and 52
respectively.
Elsewhere our fortunes were mixed, in some cases perhaps a bit
disappointing. The 2nd XI won convincingly with Jason Maritz (270 runs
in his last 3 innings against CBC) scoring another half century. The
wickets were shared. The 3rds however lost by about 40 runs with Keith
Murray who scored 62 and took 3 wickets the only player who really
featured.
Having looked after the U14 boys while
Will Randle was still returning from his trip up Mount Kilimanjaro, I
was confident that we had quite a reasonable A side but they went down
by 5 wickets. Matthew Williams showed the way as captain with 62 runs
and 3 wickets but didn’t receive all the support he needed. We await
the return game in 2 weeks time with anticipation as, no doubt, will
the U15 A side who performed well below par, slumping to an eight
wicket defeat. At U16 level the A team managed a draw which was no
mean achievement against strong opposition. Campbell Reid played a
monumental innings in his first A team match. Opening the innings he
took 15 overs to get off the mark and made 14 in 2 hours. All out for
131 (in 66 overs!) we bowled and fielded well. Gerald Aliseni took 3
wickets, Jeremy Richards 2 as CBC ended up 10 runs behind with 3
wickets standing.
At B team level we won two and lost one (U16). For the 15 Bs Takudzwa
Gonese, Michael Todd and Michael Amos all took 3 wickets.
The sport this week was highlighted by a
very exciting 1st team cricket match against Milton. We knew that
Milton had a pretty useful side and that the pitch was likely to have
some life after a small amount of overnight rain, but no-one was
expecting Falcon to be 18-5 at morning tea. It could hardly be called
a recovery but the team eventually totalled 76, thanks largely to
Tapfumo Musekiwa hitting 28 an sharing a 10th wicket stand of 29 with
Paul Trethowan. The bowlers would have liked a few more runs to play
with but they were determined to give it their best shot. Aided by
some top fielding, notably a catch by Stanley Marisa, they nearly
pulled off a famous victory, going down by just one wicket, Ricky
Ashworth picking up 4-25.
In fact Milton generally had the better of the matches between the two
schools this weekend. In another close encounter our U16 side lost by
2 wickets, a match they could have won but tea broke our momentum and
some sensible Milton batting saw them through. Tino Mangwendza made
40, his highest score for the College while Nigel Mubvumbi also
recorded his best bowling figures so far with 4-39. The U15 side was
the closest to victory with Milton holding on with 9 wickets down.
Daniel Landman scored 64 and Daniel Coulson picked up 3 wickets.
Michael O’Donaghue, the wicketkeeper, top-scored for the U14 A side as
they made 175. In reply Milton were 116-3 and the match drawn.
Our 2nd XI and B sides were away at Plumtree against their 1st team
and A sides, a sad reflection on the current state of Plumtree
cricket. The 2nds had won by lunch time and though the 16B side lost,
only rain saved the Plumtree U14 and U15 sides. Not a lot or runs were
scored in any of the matches but Michael Amos took 4 wickets for the
15Bs and Adam Bryan 3). On the way back, the bus stopped at the Fern
Spruit in Esigodini to watch a flash flood pass by. Sadly we have
still received no rain actually at Falcon and the fields and gardens
are looking very dry.
Lastly, on the cricket front, I have just completed updating my
booklet of statistical information “Falcon College : A Cricketing
Record”. Should anyone be interested in cricket statistics about
Falcon 1st and A teams since 1980, please contact me on harrypom@mweb.co.zw
. Copies are available.
Other Sports
I don’t have much tennis or basketball news this week. I do know,
however, that the 1st tennis team beat Milton on Friday. The two
junior basketball sides were at CBC on Thursday and I fear they both
lost but I am open to correction on that one.
Finally let me report the results of the Inter House Cross Country
relay event held on Monday. As expected George Grey were the overall
winners, coming first in both the senior and junior event. Hanani
Ndebele, the cross country captain, and Thulani Mahamba-Sithole were
the fastest senior and junior runners. Both of them are in George
Grey. The other houses didn’t stand much of a chance really. Chubb was
second, Hervey 3rd, Oates 4th, Founders 5th and poor old Tredgold last
again.
Richard Harrison
26th January 2003