Blignaut returns

By Edison Chikamhi

EXPLOSIVE all-rounder Andy Blignaut is set to finally make his long-awaited return to domestic cricket — in the colours of Tuskers — during the Stanbic Twenty20 Cricket Series that gets underway at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

The paceman, who is also a hard-hitting lower order batsman, has been on the sidelines for some time after severing his ties with Zimbabwe Cricket at the height of the turmoil that engulfed the domestic game.

But times have been changing for Zimbabwe Cricket and with a number of high-profile players and administrators coming back into the fold, the signs are encouraging for a better future.

The staging of the Stanbic Twenty20 Cricket Series, with its foreign flavour, is in itself a demonstration of the way the game appears to have turned the corner after years in the trenches of turmoil.

The availability of some of the players who became heroes of the domestic game, before the crisis that pushed them to explore other avenues, has added glamour to a sport terribly short of crowd-pulling figures with names and talents to fuse confidence among the fans.

Blignaut was one of the most colourful figures of domestic cricket, with a loyal fan base that believed in his explosive innings and devastation with the ball, and his return could not have come at a better time for Zimbabwe Cricket.

Initial reports had indicated that Blignaut’s fallout with Zimbabwe Cricket centred on the failure by the game’s controlling body to pay him his dues in terms of wages and bonuses.

However, that line of arguments has since been proved wrong and the fiery all-rounder — just like Sean Ervine — appears to have found that the environment has changed so much that they can trust the establishment to give them a good platform to showcase their talents.

Ervine starred for Hampshire in England during his time in exile and even considered playing for Australia with some reports claiming that he was so disillusioned with his motherland that he would never consider playing the game here.

However, the winds of change that have been blowing across Zimbabwe Cricket have been too much for a lot of people to resist the temptation of another dance with the game, and Ervine has since returned into the fold.

Blignaut is now expected to make his grand comeback this weekend.

The Stanbic Twenty20 Series is a revolutionary competition, from a domestic perspective, in that it is the first local competition that would be run under a licence as the Zimbabwe Cricket leadership continues to show the world that it is committed to the modern trends in sport.

For nine days, local cricket fans can expect a treat as the Twenty20 battles take centre stage, ending just a few days before the Zimbabwe national team flies out to the Caribbean for a tour.

The tournament, which takes over the spotlight from the Logan Cup, has also accommodated the Namibian national side, the Desert Vipers, who are still in the process of developing their game to higher levels.

Zimbabwe Cricket head of communications Shingai Rhuhwaya confirmed the Namibians were expected in the country tomorrow as the sixth team in the competition.

The Desert Vipers are scheduled to fight for honours with the five franchise teams formed from the twinning of the country’s 10 provinces.

Mountaineers, Mid West Rhinos, Southern Rocks, Mashonaland Eagles and Matabeleland Tuskers are all expected to field the best of the talents available to them in this edition of the T20 tournament.

Southern Rocks, who have not been performing well in the Logan Cup, will put the visiting Desert Vipers to their first test on Saturday seeking a change of fortunes in the shorter version of the game.

But prior to that match, Mountaineers and Mid West Rhinos are scheduled to set the pace in the opening game on Friday morning followed by the clash between Tuskers and Eagles later in the day.

Harare Sports Club will host all the matches and the finals will be played between the top two teams on February 20.

The tournament promises to be bigger this year with the coming on board of Stanbic Bank and the screening of live matches on SuperSport.

Last year’s domestic T20 competition failed to attract huge crowds apart from the final match between the Westerns and the Northerns.

The tournament will provide the Zimbabwe players to prepare for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies, which takes place soon after the completion of the tournament for T20 tournament.

They will play one T20 match and five One-day internationals during their trip to the Caribbean.

Meanwhile Cricinfo reports that Ollie Rayner, the Sussex off-spinner, has also joined the Mid West Rhinos for the Twenty20 competition.

Rayner didn’t feature in the Sussex side as they won the 2009 English Twenty20 Cup, which secured them a place in the Champions League, but with Rory Hamilton-Brown’s departure to Surrey there will be an opening for a spin-bowling all-rounder in the line-up for this coming season.

"It’s a great opportunity for me and this is a part of my game that I really want to develop," Rayner said.

"Branching out into all forms of cricket is where I want to go and I think that I have the potential to make a name for myself in Twenty20 cricket.

"It’s a chance that I want to take up and hopefully I’ll come back and hit the season running."

Mark Robinson, the Sussex cricket manager, added:

"We are eager to encourage this opportunity for Ollie, as we’ve asked him to work on all aspects of his game. He’s now got an early opportunity to put the work that he has done into match situations. I’m sure this will benefit him."

Namibia (Desert Vipers): W. J. Groenewald, Z. Groenewald, L. Klazinga, T. Louw, R. Manyande, A. Palladino, P. Rossouw, G. J Roudolph, B. M. Scholtz, R. Van Schoor, T. Verwey, C. Viljoen, C. G. Williams

Southern Rocks: C. Chibhabha, E. Chauluka, T. Chisoro, T. Chitongo, C. Ervine, S. Ervine, T. Kamungozi, H. Matanga, B. Mahwire, A. Marengwede, T. Machiri, T. Odoyo, S. Tikolo,

Midwest Rhinos: B. Chapungu, M. Chinouya, I. Chikunya, G. Cremer, F. Kasteni, T. Muzarabani, R. Nyathi, M. Nkala, E. Rainsford, V. Sibanda, B. Taylor, M. Waller, R. Wessels

Mash Eagles: E. Chigumbura, G. Lamb, R. Chakabva, F. Mutizwa, C. Zhuwawo, R. Price, P. Masvaure, D. Hondo, R. Butterworth, M. Mbofana, A. Manyumwa, T. Garwe, S. Marillier

Mountaineers - H. Masakadza, S. Matsikenyeri, P. Utseya, T. Maruma, S. Masakadza, N. Mushangwe, T. Mawoyo, B. Mlambo, J. Marumisa, S. Nyamuzinga, D. Tiripano, T. Taibu, N. Ncube

Tuskers: - G. Aliseni , A. Blignaut, C. Coventry, K. Dabengwa, D. Ebrahim, G. Ewing, K. Meth, J. Nyumbu, T. Mupariwa, C. Mpofu, T. Mboyi, G. Strydom, S.