Herald
11 June 2011
By Robson Sharuko
ZIMBABWE Cricket have re-launched their magazine, with a free edition that covers June and July, which they believe will be the ultimate supporters’ guide to the game in the country.
International Cricket Council president Haroon Lorgat believes this is a big development in line with the positive changes happening in Zimbabwe Cricket.
“The launch of a national cricket magazine may seem like a small development but what it shows is that there is a refreshed and renewed interest in the game in Zimbabwe,” said Lorgat.
“We hope the magazine will play its part in promoting the game and giving the cricket loving public an outlet for their passion.”
Dubbed PowerPlay, the glossy 50-page magazine, is being run by an editorial team headed by ZC communications boss, Shingai Rhuhwaya-Koti, who is the Editor-in-Chief, and veteran writer John Kelley, the AFP cricket correspondent in Zimbabwe, is the Editor.
Zimbabwe cricket team manager Lovemore Banda is the Copy Editor while its contributors include the cream of the country’s cricket writers – Dean du Plessis, Enock Muchinjo, Emmagness Zuze and Jeffrey Murimbechi.
ZC Managing Director, Ozias Bvute, said the magazine could not have come at a better time.
“It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the launch issue of our new cricket magazine PowerPlay,” said Bvute in his introductory message.
“In the last 12 months, we have enjoyed immensely our dialogue with you through the media, email, our website and social networking platforms such as Facebook and You Tube.
“What has been evident in our communication with you is that the zeal for all things cricket is very much alive in Zimbabwe.
“There has been much for lovers of the game to savour, from the launch of the five domestic franchises, Charles Coventry’s dramatic record-breaking 194 at Queens Sports Club, the return of former greats like Streak and Campbell, the re-launch of the domestic T20, the signing of international clothing brand Reebok as our kit partner, the rise of Elton Chigumbura to national team captain to our announcement that we would be returning to the Test cricket arena this year.
“I am sure there would be plenty of talking points to come, which is why it is such a perfect time for us to launch this publication.
“It is our hope that it will bring hours of compelling reading and an insight into the cricket world often left off the back page of a newspaper or website.
“This publication is by and for the cricket community, a plethora of new and old generation cricket fans from every age, race, gender and social background.
“Zimbabwe Cricket tried this some five years ago and commissioned a sports magazine called Sport Light,” said Rhuhwaya-Koti in her introductory message.
“While we were sure about the thirst for information, we were wary that a purely cricket magazine might not have a big enough market in a society dominated by football.
“The publication, therefore, carried a blend of stories from the entire world of sport. That was then.
“Today we sit in an almost entirely different landscape. Today, cricket stands its ground as a mass market sport enjoyed and followed by experts and newcomers alike. In Zimbabwe it is a pioneer in the areas of administration, marketing and entertainment.
“Similarly, this magazine charts new territory, as the only publication of its kind in Zimbabwe that delivers cricket on and off the crease.”
Rhuhwaya-Koti said the game was also changing around the world.
“Worldwide, the interest in which makes an international game such as this tick has grown over the last decade and, in Zimbabwe especially, we are witnessing a growing interest in not only the history and development of the game itself, but the individual players and the lives they lead, those that work in cricket administration and those that support it financially,” said Rhuhwaya-Koti.
“Our aim with this magazine is to bring the world of cricket to your doorstep.
“Sports reporting in newspapers and on the internet has burgeoned in recent years, but this magazine is not about daily updates, it is about compelling journalism by some of the finest cricket writers available, amazing photography, cutting edge design and stories and hope and optimism for a country and the sport it loves so much.
“PowerPlay will offer a mix of big-name exclusive interviews from home and overseas, insightful profiles, humorous columns.”
Editor Kelley said there were exciting times in store for Zimbabwe Cricket.
“It seems an awfully long time ago but it is really only short years and months since the then Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the contracted players of the time went to war over team selection and pay disputes that resulted in sackings, strikes and boycotts,” wrote Kelley in an Editorial.
“Inevitably, the suddenly vanished senior players’ young replacements couldn’t cope and the curtain came down, not on our full membership of the ICC, but certainly on Test cricket.
“It was a war alright, entrenched and rooted with hostility that seemed impenetrable. But if Japan and the USA can eventually become amicable after Pearl Harbour and Britain become pals with Germany after the blitz and the holocaust, the incredibly quick healing process in Zimbabwe cricket can also be admired, even though tinged with astonishment in some quarters.
“It is a great truth that time heals, maybe not in seven days, but eventually.
“There remains plenty of comment and criticism below the surface but the swords are back in the scabbards.
“What shows in the sunlight above is a high level of enthusiastic sponsorship created largely by the emergence in circulation just a couple of years ago of the US dollar.
“With resulting financial backing from many business houses aligned to advice and support from ICC and encouragement from other friendly cricket countries, a first-class cricket foundation has been established as a springboard for speedy development, each aspect feeding off the others.
“Everything tat was so bad just a few years ago has been swallowed up and very largely brushed aside by the momentum of it all.
“The great sport of cricket has therefore won again, as it always will, Young cricketers in Zimbabwe want to play and, if possible, reach the top.
“They are not concerned with anything else, much less the convoluted history of cricket in Zimbabwe. And there is an irresistible mood across the whole spectrum to help them.”
Kelley said fathers now watch over their sons in schools and age-group teams and are desperate for their kids to play Tests for the country.
“Previous antagonists have either faded away or are still very much in place within the sport, their love of cricket overriding all else,” writes Kelley.
“They have all, to use inevitable clichés, moved on, drawn a line in the sand and recognised that looking and preparing forward is the only way to go from here.
“We have ambition but we are well aware that this must always be secondary to achievement and that applies to everybody involved in the game, from national captain to the tea lady.”
The first issue of PowerPlay revisits the 2011 ICC World Cup with Bvute answering questions related to how Zimbabwe performed and could the country rely on the current crop of players to take it to the next World Cup.
Then there is an interview with spinner Ray Price, who is rated by the ICC as one of the best bowlers in ODI cricket in the world, and has become the face of not only the team but the domestic game around the globe.
US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, also contributes a guest column and Kelley looks at the country’s journey back into Test cricket.
Sports Minister David Coltart also has a piece where he defends Zimbabwe’s Test return and there are articles on Vusi Sibanda, Tendai Chatara and Heath Streak.
The magazine features adverts from the game’s big sponsors and partners – South African Airways, Delta Beverages through their Castle Lager and Coca-Cola brands, Metropolitan Bank, Nissan Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, CBZ Bank, Croco Motors, Interfin Bank, Schweppes and Premier Auto Services.