THE Cabs St George’s Smashing cricket T20 kicked off on Thursday in Harare after a three-year hiatus owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
St George’s College in the capital hosts the schoolboy T20 cricket tournament featuring St Andrews from South Africa and Namibia.
The hosts are also the defending champions but lost to Peter House on the opening day marking a disappointing return to the tournament by the Dragons.
There was also no joy for four-time winners, Churchill High School, who lost to Christian Brothers College in a match that they bossed around their opponents until the 15th over.
CBC took advantage of reckless cricket, which Churchill was playing as they tried to smash everything away for six when singles could still have won them the match.
Prince Edward also suffered the same fate as Churchill, failing to chase a paltry total.
St Andrews sent a big message as they scored the highest team total on day one and bowled out for less than 100, underlying their superiority.
Overall, cricket on display on day one of the Cabs St Georges Smashing cricket T20 was disappointing and revealed cobwebs probably due to the Covid-19 pandemic that prevented all sporting activities.
However, cricket promises to get better from day two as some of the favourites want to put points on the board.
What will be of interest to the local cricket public is how the youngsters will fare, especially the openers, in a country where the senior national team is failing to find compact openers.
That grooming begins at this level and is developed further.
We are assured of the next three days that new stars will be born during the Cabs St George’s Smashing Cricket T20.
