Series Discussion: NPL T20 Blast | 2026 Oct 08 - 2026 Oct 17

Quoted from Andy31 in post #47209

I just saw the replay of Clive's catch, that's one of the best i have seen.

Incredible, wasn't it!

Quoted from Andy31 in post #47214

So the thinking is that the tournament will be more ZC but clubs we’ll be less financially reliable on ZC for other aspects of running.

The sceptic in me thinks this is going to be extremely difficult to achieve. Not because it's a bad idea, but because I don't think the economic and cultural foundations necessary to sustain these clubs exist.

I have written a long post, but I understand that some of you may be in a hurry. The attached picture probably explains my concerns better than a thousand words could.

The image at the top is Hwange Cricket Club in the 1990s and the one at the bottom is the same ground in 2026.

If you have a bit more time, below is a longie where I explain why I think this whole club project has some serious structural problems to overcome.

ZC can finance a cricket competition. It cannot manufacture a self-sustaining club culture through press releases.

Club Memberships and Culture

Before the purge of the mid-2000s, Zimbabwe had a thriving network of cricket clubs, predominantly run and financed by white communities. From Hwange to Mutare to Bindura, there were clubs with well-maintained grounds, functioning facilities and established memberships.

Members paid their subscriptions, volunteered their time and took responsibility for maintaining their institutions. This was a deeply ingrained culture that had developed over generations.

Then came the farm seizures and the subsequent destruction of much of the commercial farming sector. Many of the people financing these institutions lost their livelihoods, while others left the country altogether.

Fast forward two decades and look at the state of cricket grounds around the country.

We didn't just lose farmers and cricketers. We lost decades of institutional knowledge, financial support and cricket culture.

An uncomfortable truth that most refuse to acknowledge is:

The culture of paying subscriptions and collectively financing community sporting institutions simply hasn't taken root among black Zimbabweans on anything approaching the same scale.

Let me be clear, skin colour has nothing to do with it. Culture does.

I see this cultural difference everywhere. There are still plenty of well-run, community-funded sporting establishments with roots in Zimbabwe's white communities.

And before someone blames everything on poverty, Zimbabwe now has plenty of wealthy black people. What we don't seem to have is a comparable culture of collectively financing and maintaining sporting institutions.

Having money and having a culture of contributing towards community projects are two very different things.

Consider Gladiators Cricket Club.

How many people in Glen View would willingly contribute US$5 every month towards maintaining the club?

How many would sacrifice an entire Saturday to watch Gladiators play cricket?

The average bloke in Glen View has enough financial headaches without adding the maintenance of a cricket pitch to his monthly obligations.

Cricket simply doesn't have that kind of community following.

Corruption and Accountability

Then there's Zimbabwe's other national pastime. Corruption.

Even where people are willing to contribute financially, there's the small matter of ensuring that their money doesn't disappear into somebody's pocket.

We live in a country where incompetence and corruption are frequently rewarded, provided the perpetrators have the right political connections.

Why would anybody willingly contribute to a club whose administrators aren't accountable to its members?

You cannot develop a culture of financial participation without also developing a culture of transparency and accountability.

And Zimbabwe isn't exactly a world leader in either department.

Corporate Sponsorships

Corporate sponsorship is probably the most realistic option.

The corporate world already contributes significantly towards Zimbabwean cricket, but I wonder how much more it can realistically provide.

What commercial value does a company derive from sponsoring a cricket club whose matches attract crowds consisting of the players' relatives, a handful of enthusiasts and the occasional stray dog?

Where Is the Business Model?

I'm not suggesting that clubs should become completely independent of ZC. But if the objective is to reduce their financial dependence, where exactly is the alternative revenue going to come from?

How many paying members do these clubs currently have? What do their annual operating expenses look like? Do they own facilities capable of generating income? What percentage of their budgets does ZC currently finance?

And most importantly, what are the club administrators doing to develop reliable sources of recurring income?

You cannot simply create cricket teams, enter them into a national competition and expect financially sustainable sporting institutions to materialise.

My biggest concern is that we're trying to recreate the sporting structures of the past without recreating the culture that made those structures possible.

Zimbabwe has a serious problem with maintaining institutions, infrastructure and standards. Cricket is merely a microcosm of that wider cultural problem.

Unless we develop a culture of collective ownership, financial participation and institutional accountability, these clubs will remain dependent on ZC or corporate sponsors.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong.

But I'd love to know how the administrators intend to make this work over the long term.

Qualifier 2 Stream: Rimuka v Gladiators

Quoted from admin in post #47216

ZC can finance a cricket competition. It cannot manufacture a self-sustaining club culture through press releases.

Club Memberships and Culture

Before the purge of the mid-2000s, Zimbabwe had a thriving network of cricket clubs, predominantly run and financed by white communities. From Hwange to Mutare to Bindura, there were clubs with well-maintained grounds, functioning facilities and established memberships.

Members paid their subscriptions, volunteered their time and took responsibility for maintaining their institutions. This was a deeply ingrained culture that had developed over generations.

Then came the farm seizures and the subsequent destruction of much of the commercial farming sector. Many of the people financing these institutions lost their livelihoods, while others left the country altogether.

Fast forward two decades and look at the state of cricket grounds around the country.

We didn't just lose farmers and cricketers. We lost decades of institutional knowledge, financial support and cricket culture.

An uncomfortable truth that most refuse to acknowledge is:

The culture of paying subscriptions and collectively financing community sporting institutions simply hasn't taken root among black Zimbabweans on anything approaching the same scale.

Let me be clear, skin colour has nothing to do with it. Culture does.

I see this cultural difference everywhere. There are still plenty of well-run, community-funded sporting establishments with roots in Zimbabwe's white communities.

And before someone blames everything on poverty, Zimbabwe now has plenty of wealthy black people. What we don't seem to have is a comparable culture of collectively financing and maintaining sporting institutions.

Having money and having a culture of contributing towards community projects are two very different things.

Consider Gladiators Cricket Club.

How many people in Glen View would willingly contribute US$5 every month towards maintaining the club?

How many would sacrifice an entire Saturday to watch Gladiators play cricket?

The average bloke in Glen View has enough financial headaches without adding the maintenance of a cricket pitch to his monthly obligations.

Cricket simply doesn't have that kind of community following.

Corruption and Accountability

Then there's Zimbabwe's other national pastime. Corruption.

Even where people are willing to contribute financially, there's the small matter of ensuring that their money doesn't disappear into somebody's pocket.

We live in a country where incompetence and corruption are frequently rewarded, provided the perpetrators have the right political connections.

Why would anybody willingly contribute to a club whose administrators aren't accountable to its members?

You cannot develop a culture of financial participation without also developing a culture of transparency and accountability.

And Zimbabwe isn't exactly a world leader in either department.

Corporate Sponsorships

Corporate sponsorship is probably the most realistic option.

The corporate world already contributes significantly towards Zimbabwean cricket, but I wonder how much more it can realistically provide.

What commercial value does a company derive from sponsoring a cricket club whose matches attract crowds consisting of the players' relatives, a handful of enthusiasts and the occasional stray dog?

Where Is the Business Model?

I'm not suggesting that clubs should become completely independent of ZC. But if the objective is to reduce their financial dependence, where exactly is the alternative revenue going to come from?

How many paying members do these clubs currently have? What do their annual operating expenses look like? Do they own facilities capable of generating income? What percentage of their budgets does ZC currently finance?

And most importantly, what are the club administrators doing to develop reliable sources of recurring income?

You cannot simply create cricket teams, enter them into a national competition and expect financially sustainable sporting institutions to materialise.

My biggest concern is that we're trying to recreate the sporting structures of the past without recreating the culture that made those structures possible.

Zimbabwe has a serious problem with maintaining institutions, infrastructure and standards. Cricket is merely a microcosm of that wider cultural problem.

Unless we develop a culture of collective ownership, financial participation and institutional accountability, these clubs will remain dependent on ZC or corporate sponsors.

I genuinely hope I'm wrong.

But I'd love to know how the administrators intend to make this work over the long term.

👀😂😂

Quoted from admin in post #47174

Quoted from Pat_Bee in post #47173

Googly is this admin guy 😂😂 the tell tale signs are there

😂😂😂 oh Pat, or should I say Zolsky, what are you on about? I have a moment to kill, so I'll take the bait.

Firstly, I know how to spell the word enough correctly. If that's not enuf (👈 Googly tell) evidence, there is more 👇

Another easy tell, I don't butcher Shona or Ndebele names as he sometimes did. Not that it's a crime. Both languages are difficult grasp for non-native speakers. I'm a Shona guy. I believe Googly is English speaking.

Googly knows way more about the game than I do. He also knows people in Zim cricket circles that I don't. He always came here with first hand info that I quite simply don't have access to.

Finally, I don't rant as much as he used to. Ok, maybe I dish out a longie here and there, but not as much as Googly 😂

I could give you a breakdown of how our writing styles are different, but that will chew up my time. I believe the evidence presented herein is sufficient to invalidate your claim Pat. Case closed!

Back on topic, you must be disappointed that your boys lost to SOGO hey Zolsky? I remember you picking on Matthew Campbell for no reason. Has your opinion on him changed now? 😂

I’m not zolsks 😂

Stream for the final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5s4eWoD_84

Sogo bat first and score 154/8

MATCH RESULT

SOGO Rangers: 154/8 (20 overs)
Gladiators Cricket Club: 158/3 (18.2 overs)

Result: Gladiators won by 7 wickets.

LEADING BATSMEN

• Ashley Mufandauya (Gladiators) – 85 (54 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes)
• Dion Myers (Rangers) – 35 (27 balls, 3 fours, 1 six)
• Michael Frost (Rangers) – 34 (22 balls, 2 sixes)

LEADING BOWLERS

• Phase Mukabeta (Gladiators) – 3/16 (4 overs)
• Arineshto Vhezha (Gladiators) – 3/22 (4 overs)
• Victor Nyauchi (Gladiators) – 2/36 (4 overs)

Gladiators Cricket Club won the 2026 NPL T20 Blast!

NPL T20 Blast 2026 – Leading Run-Scorers & Wicket-Takers

TOP 10 RUN-SCORERS

• 1. Naison Mare (Gladiators)
  Innings: 9 | Runs: 313 | Average: 52.17 | S/R: 130.42 | HS: 85*
• 2. Lennox Chando (Gladiators)
  Innings: 10 | Runs: 301 | Average: 33.44 | S/R: 162.70 | HS: 83*
• 3. Matthew Campbell (Rangers)
  Innings: 9 | Runs: 250 | Average: 31.25 | S/R: 221.24 | HS: 60*
• 4. Milton Shumba (Gladiators)
  Innings: 9 | Runs: 237 | Average: 39.50 | S/R: 129.51 | HS: 49*
• 5. Alistar Frost (Rangers)
  Innings: 7 | Runs: 207 | Average: 34.50 | S/R: 155.64 | HS: 95*
• 6. Roy Kaia (Takashinga Patriots 1)
  Innings: 7 | Runs: 203 | Average: 33.83 | S/R: 117.34 | HS: 50*
• 7. Kudzai Maunze (Takashinga Patriots 1)
  Innings: 6 | Runs: 194 | Average: 38.80 | S/R: 165.81 | HS: 60*
• 8. Munashe Chimusoro (Queens)
  Innings: 7 | Runs: 191 | Average: 31.83 | S/R: 148.06 | HS: 90*
• 9. Ahsan Aqil Ali (Old Hararians)
  Innings: 8 | Runs: 189 | Average: 27.00 | S/R: 129.45 | HS: 72*
• 10. Dion Myers (Rangers)
  Innings: 5 | Runs: 168 | Average: 33.60 | S/R: 130.23 | HS: 50*

TOP 10 WICKET-TAKERS

• 1. Ryan Simbi (Takashinga Patriots 1)
  Innings: 6 | Wickets: 19 | Average: 7.89 | Economy: 6.52
• 2. Tendai Chisoro (Rimuka)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 18 | Average: 10.39 | Economy: 5.91
• 3. Daniel Jakiel (Rangers)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 18 | Average: 13.89 | Economy: 7.94
• 4. Ignace Ntirenganya (Rimuka)
  Innings: 8 | Wickets: 16 | Average: 9.69 | Economy: 6.20
• 5. Victor Nyauchi (Gladiators)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 14 | Average: 18.79 | Economy: 7.74
• 6. Victor Chirwa (Rimuka)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 14 | Average: 15.64 | Economy: 7.96
• 7. Michael Frost (Rangers)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 13 | Average: 16.46 | Economy: 6.29
• 8. Matthew Campbell (Rangers)
  Innings: 9 | Wickets: 13 | Average: 15.85 | Economy: 7.10
• 9. Arineshto Vhezha (Gladiators)
  Innings: 7 | Wickets: 13 | Average: 13.92 | Economy: 7.87
• 10. Ahsan Aqil Ali (Old Hararians)
  Innings: 6 | Wickets: 12 | Average: 11.67 | Economy: 6.67

HIGHLIGHTS

• Most runs: Naison Mare (Gladiators) – 313
• Highest batting average: Naison Mare – 52.17
• Highest batting strike rate: Matthew Campbell – 221.24
• Highest individual score: Alistar Frost – 95*
• Most wickets: Ryan Simbi (Takashinga Patriots 1) – 19
• Best bowling average: Ryan Simbi – 7.89
• Best economy rate: Tendai Chisoro – 5.91

Interesting thoughts regarding club structures.

To be honest, I don't think they are trying to recreate a model of community subs funding facility-owning clubs. That model is gone, and won't return. Similar story in many other countries as well to be fair.

I think that the model they are more trying to emulate is football. Where a sugar daddy Chairman, or a significant sponsor can bankroll a club. Almost all NPL games are played on facilities that are ZC managed anyway. Any way in which local, private investment can be attracted into the game is probably a good thing. Even if it mainly used just to try and attract players to play for your team.


In terms of the averages, there are a few interesting points. In a generally, low scoring comp, dominated by slow bowling, it's interesting that the leading runscorer has played no pro cricket whatsoever so far. You'd suspect that will change at some point in the coming season. Matt Campbell's SR really stands out. Especially considering that was not an element of his game that he was previously known for. A big season coming up for him, and of course any batter looking to step into the shoes of the imminently departing Dad's Army. Loads of SLA bowlers went well, interesting to see young Simbi on top of the pile, ahead of some who are significantly more experienced (Chisoro) or more talked about (Frost). Finally, Vehza's performances in the KO rounds were eye catching - it's not out of the question that he could play international cricket at some point, he has some interesting attributes.

Yeah there is, all franchises will have B squads. Old hamilton masakadza said this weeks ago 😂