Zimbabwe Cricket Convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu has hailed the Gweru Cricket Club for setting up a high performance centre to nurture talent in the city.

Taibu, who was the guest of honour at the launch of the centre at Cecil John Rhodes primary school in Gweru on Saturday, said he was delighted to have witnessed an event which is a foundation for the growth of cricket in the country.

“Today I am very happy that I have seen people who want our cricket to grow, I am also delighted that I have seen kids who are willing to learn.

“I want to congratulate everyone who graced this occasion, to those who didn’t get prizes, don’t despair, we are all winners. Me I don’t remember getting prizes as a kid but I went on to have a successful career,” said Taibu.

“These clubs are crucial because we are losing many potential national team players after leaving primary schools they lose out when they leave for high school where there is no cricket. So these clubs act as the bridge as the players can always go there to play cricket.”

Gweru Cricket Club chairman John Makuwalo said the high performance centre was born out of the realisation that a lot of cricket talent in the city was being lost because of unavailability of grassroots development.
 
“The reason why we came up with this project is to develop kids from the grassroots level as you are aware it’s easier to teach basics and techniques at a tender age. This centre will nurture raw talent into professional cricketers and feed into the Zimbabwe Cricket set up,” said Makuwalo.

Some Of the budding Cricketers at the launch of Gweru High Perfomance Centre

“We had also realised that there was no such centre in Gweru which develops cricket at a tender age. We have had situations whereby parents were being forced to take their kids to other cities so that they can get proper cricket basics for development. This initiative is going to help not only Gweru but surrounding areas as we have plans to develop into a bigger centre.”

Lundi primary school beat Cecil John Rhodes School by 51 runs in an exhibition match at the launch of the high performance centre.