A new book by Henry Olonga has just been released, called Blood Sweat & Treason tells the story of his childhood in Zimbabwe, of his gradual realisation that he was living in a dictatorship, of his battle to reach the very top as a black cricketer and how he sacrificed his position to do something he hoped would make a difference.

For those of you who don’t know Henry Olonga, he was actually born in Lusaka, Zambia but played cricket for Zimbabwe. He made his Test match debut against Pakistan at Harare in 1995 aged just 18 years and 212 days, making him the youngest player to represent Zimbabwe.

A right arm fast bowler, he holds the record for the best bowling in a one-day international by a Zimbabwean, with figures of 6/19 against England at Cape Town in 2000. He was also the first black cricketer to play for Zimbabwe and is the third Zambian-born Test cricketer after Phil Edmonds and Neal Radford of England.

Black Armband Protest
Henry Olonga along with Andy Flower made international headlines when during the 2003 World Cup they wore black armbands to protest against the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe. Widely praised for his bravery, the act ensured that Olonga played no meaningful part in the remainder of the competition and was later branded a traitor, sentenced to death in his absence and forced to dramatically flee his homeland and his family.

Where to Buy Blood, Sweat and Treason

Currently available in Hardcover it is available online through Amazon, in the UK and US

UK
Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.co.uk

USA

Blood, Sweat and Treason on Amazon.com

Write a Book Review

If you have read this book or any other book relating to Zimbabwe or Africa and would like to review it on Chirundu.com, please contact me as I would love to be able to include it on the site.

After overcoming some early nerves Zimbabwe’s tennis star Cara Black and her partner Leander Paes from India won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title in straight sets against South Africa’s Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond from the Unites States on Sunday.

The mixed doubles final took place on Centre Court straight after strolled Rafael Nadal had won the men’s singles. A topsy-turvy opening set had five breaks of serve as both pairs struggled to impose themselves. But after losing three of the first four games, the second seeds and last years loosing finalists rallied to win five of the next six and closed out the set in 37 minutes.

The second set turned out to be a reversal of the first and it was a tightly fought encounter without a single break of serve.

The tiebreak proved a test of nerve and Black and Paes held theirs with the Indian volleying the winner on championship point to take the match in one hour and 37 minutes.

This is Cara’s second Wimbledon title as she has previously won won in 2004 with her brother Wayne Black and their second grand slam title of the year after winning the Australian Open title in January with a 7-5 6-3 victory against Ekaterina Makarova and Jaroslav Levinský. They have also won the U.S. Open in 2008 and were runners-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

About Homes in Zimbabwe
HIZ helps financially destitute pensioners in Zimbabwe by providing food, equipment and services mainly to care homes throughout the country. The beneficiaries are local and British citizens whose pensions have no value in the local economy.

This year they aim to feed 1700 frail, elderly in Harare, Bulawayo and other towns around Zimbabwe and they provide food to 28 residential homes. It runs a soup kitchen and supports SOAP (Save Our Aged People) in Harare and Bulawayo; a network of volunteers who deliver food parcels to elderly people struggling to survive in their own homes. Without Homes In Zimbabwe’s support many would starve.

How you can help
You can either donate money, or gifts in kind or get involved with some of their fund-raising events such as the HIZ Royal Thames Yacht Club Annual Fundraising Dinner, Charity Golf Competition or the eXtreme 5 Challenge.

Homes in Zimbabwe Website

Aim
The eXtreme 5 Challenge is aiming to raise £100,000 for “Homes in Zimbabwe” (HIZ – UK registered charity 1104512). HIZ looks after destitute pensioners who lost their life savings in Zimbabwe’s economic collapse. Participants can either raise money for this charity or one of their own choosing. (More about Homes in Zimbabwe)

The Challenge
eXtreme 5 Challenge’s teams of 4 to swim, run, cycle and kayak whilst raising money for charity.

eXtreme 5 is looking for 100 teams to participate in the eXtreme 5 Challenge on Sunday 12 September 2010 at Willen Lake, Milton Keynes.

The challenge is a relay consisting of a:

• 1.5km swim;
• 5km kayak;
• 30km cycle;
• 10km run; whilst raising money for charity

“We came up with the concept of this team challenge after completing our own physical challenges in 34 days during the summer of 2009. We ran a 26 mile marathon, cycled 1050 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats, kayaked 60 miles along the Caledonian Canal and played four rounds of golf in 15 hours. We are challenging others to do something similar” said Simon Grint, one of the eXtreme 5 organisers.

This is going to be a fun day out for both participants and spectators with food, drink, music and a children’s play area. The event is free for spectators wanting to come along and cheer on the teams.

If the physical elements sound a bit daunting, there are other ways to support the event. The organisers are looking for volunteers to act as marshals and to man course refreshment stands on the day. If you would like to volunteer to help, please call the eXtreme 5 Challenge on 0845 056 8379.

When & Where
Date: Sunday 12 September 2010
Location: Willen Lake, Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, UK

For more information on the event and to sign up visit www.extreme5challenge.co.uk or to make a donation go to www.justgiving.com/extreme5

Contact:
Simon Grint
eXtreme 5 Challenge
0845 056 8379
extreme5challenge@googlemail.com

Join the Chirundu.com Team

I am looking to form at least one Chirundu.com team.

I think initially the “Chirundu.com team” will just compete for fun, with the aim of just finishing. But depending on the amount of interest and the level of those wishing to compete, we could possibly put together more than one team, with one more serious than the other. So If you are interested in taking part and would like to join in or know somebody else who may be interested please contact me, letting me know your level of fitness and preferred event.

Zimbabwe cricket captain, Elton Chigumbura joins Northants: Chigumbura, who has been in fine form with the bat in the recent triangular tournament against Sri Lanka and India, will be with the club until the end of the 2010 season.

Within hours of arriving at the County Ground, Elton was out in the middle peppering the pavilion roof with huge sixes. He said, “Yeah that’s my other strength! I like to get out there and hit the ball cleanly and time it just right.”

In an interview with the BBC, the 24-year-old Zimbabwean said “It was one of my dreams to play county cricket and finally I’m here,” he also went on to say “It’s come at the right time. I want to show the counties and the world that the guys in Zimbabwe are competitive.”

David Capel the coach of Northamptonshire has said that Elton should express himself and just play what he knows. Chigumbura also said that David Capel has already helped him with some technical stuff, and that he is looking forward to working some more with him.

The former Northants wicketkeeper Rikki Wessels has tipped Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura to be a success. Wessels, who played with Chigumbura in Zimbabwe, told BBC Radio Northampton: “He’s very talented and he’s immense in the field.
“He’s a very dangerous bowler to left-handed batsman and he can hit the ball a very long way and very hard.”
Chigumbura could make his debut in the Twenty20 match at Leicestershire today – Friday 18th June scheduled to begin at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT).

You can keep up-to-date with his progress live on CrickInfo or for live cricket commentary, on BBC Radio Northamptonshire via the BBC website here.

The Past: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, 3rd Test, December 21, 1998
A long time ago now, the photo above shows Alastair Campbell celebrating Zimbabwe’s first Test series win overseas after the third Test against Pakistan was drawn. Adam Huckle, Neil Johnson, Pommie Mbangwa and Grant Flower look on.

The Future
After meeting with David Morgan, the ICC (International Cricket Council) president and chief executive Haroon Lorgat, it looks like Zimbabwe will return to the Test Cricket arena in 2011.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Chairman Peter Chingoka said: “We are developing a strong and competitive domestic competition as a result of the ICC task team’s recommendations.” and are “now looking to make a gradual return to Test cricket after the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.”

Zimbabwe could possibly play a home Test series against Bangladesh in May 2011 and South Africa have offered to host a one-off Test between the teams each year.

Zim have not played Test match cricket since 2005, after the political upheaval basically destroyed the team leaving it so weakened that Zimbabwe were unable to compete at the highest level. However the recent improvements in both one day and twenty20 cricket have been very noticeable : Zimbabwe have beaten India twice and Sri Lanka once en route to last Wednesday’s triangular series final in Harare, as well as recently beating Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies in twenty20 cricket.

ICC president David Morgan said: “I take great pleasure in the number of smiling faces around Zimbabwe Cricket. It is very comforting for the ICC to observe the improvement and success of the Zimbabwe team in recent months.”

Zimbabwe Play India Today

Just as a reminder that Zimbabwe play India in a twenty20 game today, which you can watch live, details here: Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live

Zimbabwe play India in two Twenty20 games this weekend and even though Zimbabwe recently lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the One day international tri-nation series, they still have many reasons to feel confident. During the group stages they beat India twice and Sri Lanka once, finishing top of the table. In the twenty20 format of the game, they have also had some recent successes, beating Australia and Pakistan in the warm up games to the Twenty20 World cup.

Whilst the two teams have played each other many times recently, this will be the first game between these two sides in the Twenty20 format. So far India have 12 wins and 11 defeats, while Zimbabwe have only played ten Twenty20 games, winning three of them.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live Online

You can watch live streaming of the two Zimbabwe India games live on-line through BetFair

Betfair is an online betting site and all you have to do is open an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Games Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Date and Time of the games
Both games take place in Harare, the first match kicks off on Saturday 12th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time. The second game is on Sunday the 13th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time.

Zimbabwe
Zim’s spinners are their strongest card, depriving opposing teams of easy runs, forcing them into mistakes and then taking wickets. In the batting department, keep an eye out for the openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor who both go into the game with some great form. Brendan Taylor in particular was almost unstoppable in the tri-series, and will look to cash in with some more runs over the weekend.

Possible Zimbabwe team: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk) 4 Charles Coventry, 5 Andy Blignaut 6 Ervine, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Greg Lamb, 11 Ray Price.

India
India seem to be of the opinion of “If you can’t beat them, join them” and they have four spinners to choose from, in addition to two spinning allrounders, of whom Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will expect to make the cut. The seamers were pretty much to a man unimpressive in the ODIs, and it could be a toss-up between Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh for two spots. Lack of options could force the side to field Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan, both notable exclusions for the Asia Cup..

Possible Indian Team: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 and 11 Two out of Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh.

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Latest Updates:

I will be post updates here throughout the day, as well as on my twitter feed and the Chirundu facebook page.

Game Over: India 112/4 (15.0/20 ov), India won by 6 wickets (with 30 balls remaining). Zimbabwe just didn’t make enough and it was clear from the start. Had they scored 160, this would have been an interesting chase. India looked jittery against Mpofu in the beginning and threatened to make heavy weather of this chase but Pathan eased the nerves with some big hits.

3:14pm Another Wicket, this is starting to get interesting again: India 48/4 (7.4/20 ov). RG Sharma stumped †Tatenda Taibu bowled Ray Price 10 (15b 1×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

3:12pm Wicket: SK Raina caught Chigumbura bowled Ray Price 28 (17b 3×4 1×6) SR: 164.70. India 47/3 (7.2/20 ov). India require another 65 runs with 7 wickets and 12.4 overs remaining.

2:52pm Zim needed early wickets and they now have 2: India 12/2 (2.5/20 ov). India require another 100 runs with 8 wickets and 17.1 overs remaining. Last wicket: NV Ojha caught †Tatenda Taibu bowled Chris Mpofu 2 (9b 0×4 0×6) SR: 22.22

2:44pm Zim off to a good start, Mpofu Strikes: India 7/1 (1.0/20 ov) M Vijay c Utseya b Mpofu 5 (5b 1×4 0×6) SR: 100.00. India require another 105 runs with 9 wickets and 19.0 overs remaining.

1:29pm End of Zim’s innings – was hard to watch the end of that as Zimbabwe played terribly. Lets hope that the bowlers can do better when India come out to bat. Zimbabwe 111/9 (20.0/20 ov).

1:19pm Hard to watch this – Zim playing terribly, now 108/9 (19.4/20 ov)

1:12pm Wicket: Craig Ervine (b Dinda 30). Zimbabwe 103/7 after 18.3 overs

11:44am Ogh no, another two wickets in quick succession, Zimbabwe now 81/6 (13.3/20 ov) – not looking good for Zim. Last two wickets: E Chigumbura c Vijay b PP Ojha 3 (9b 0×4 0×6) and GA Lamb lbw b PP Ojha 0 (1b 0×4 0×6)

11:44am Wicket: Zimbabwe 73/4 (10.3/20 ov) CJ Chibhabha lbw b Chawla 40 (30b 5×4 1×6) SR: 133.33. Zimbabwe Run Rate 6.95

11:44am Zimbabwe* vs India, 57 / 3 in 7.0 overs – RR 8.14, Craig Ervine 3(6b), Chamu Chibhabha 29(20b), Pragyan 2.0-0-8-0.

Zimbabwe Dancing Girls

11:15am Zimbabwe fight back, but also loose another wicket: Brendan Taylor lbw bowled Vinay Kumar 15 (9b 2×4 1×6) SR: 166.66. Zimbabwe 30/2 (3.0/20 ov) Run Rate 10.58

11:02am Ogh no Zimbabwe loose their first wicket very early – Hamilton Masakadza c Raina b Vinay Kumar 1 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 33.33 and that brings Chamu Chibhabha into bat. Zimbabwe 2/1 (0.4/20 ov)

11:00am Zimbabwe team news: ED Rainsford and Chamu Chibhabha are in replacing Charles Coventry and Graeme Cremer.

Toss India have won the toss and have decided to bowl first.

A while back I wrote a general post on how to find cheap flights to Zimbabwe, it was based upon my experience of doing it at least once a year for over a decade now.

This morning I was looking for interest and found that you can get a return flight from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Harare for £578.96, which is these days an excellent price.

What’s the catch?
No catches, just compromises:

Generally I try and keep the amount of stops needed to a minimum, but this usually means much more expensive tickets. If you are looking for the very cheapest fares, you may need to stop more than once. In this case it is two times, if you fly with Ethiopian Airlines, but they are offering the cheapest fares.

My quote of £578.96, was for travel between Sat 19th June and returning on Thur 1st July, which obviously changes depending on what days you choose:

I got this quote through Ebookers.com that makes it very simple to not only compare the prices of flying on different days, but quickly compare prices between different airlines.

Another on-line travel site that game me a quote of £583.81 for the same days also with Ethiopian Airlines is Lastminute.com:

The good news is that on the way to Harare you will only stop once at Addis Ababa for just over 2 hours, but on the return leg to London, you will stop twice, Lusaka for an hour and then Addis Ababa for 4 hours.

The Zimbabwe’s run to the final of this tri-series has been impressive as they have not just been winning their games, but winning them well and do look like a team full of confidence and one that knows how to win. I have been a Zim cricket fan for yonks and rarely, if ever have I seen them chase down targets with such ease and confidence before.

After impressive wins against India and the demolishing of Sri Lanka by eight wickets on Monday, Zimbabwe a now just one game away from their first triumph in a multi-nation tournament involving Test-playing nations and you can watch it live or keep up-to-date with all the important events as they happen on this page:

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Live

Live streaming of the Zimbabwe Sri Lanka game is available on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting community and all you have to do is create an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Game Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Zimbabwe
So far in this tournament Zimbabwe have only had one bad day and that was against Sri Lanka, hopefully they can keep their nerves together and play as well as they know they can. What is encouraging is they look like a team that are enjoying their cricket: the choreographed dance between Ray Price and Chris Mpofu and Hamilton Masakadza’s ‘just married’ are examples of this.

Zimbabwe will be hoping that their opening pair of Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza can continue with their fine form and that their “spin army” continue to not only tie down the Sri Lankans, but take wickets. Greg Lamb and Andy Blignaut will probably return to the team after missing the last game.

Squad: Elton Chigumbura (Captain), AM Blignaut, CJ Chibhabha, CK Coventry, AG Cremer, CR Ervine, GA Lamb, H Masakadza, CB Mpofu, RW Price, EC Rainsford, V Sibanda, T Taibu†, BRM Taylor, P Utseya

Sri Lanka
Even though Sri Lanka lost to Zimbabwe on Monday, they are still the best team in the tournament and must go into this game as favourites. Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara, an excellent new-ball bowler may return for the final after missing the last game and are sure to strengthen the team.

Squad: TM Dilshan (Captain), AD Mathews, LD Chandimal†, CRD Fernando, S Randiv, CK Kapugedera, KMDN Kulasekara, BAW Mendis, BMAJ Mendis, NLTC Perera, TT Samaraweera, LPC Silva, WU Tharanga, HDRL Thirimanne, T Thushara

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 7th June at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), or 8:00 British Summer Time. In Sri Lanka and India, the match starts at 12:30.
Hours of play (local time): 09.00 start, First Session 09.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.15, Second Session 13.15-16.45

Latest Match Updates:

I will be post updates here throughout the day, as well as on my twitter feed and the Chirundu facebook page.

3:26pm (Zim time) That’s it, Sri Lanka Beat Zim by 9 wickets (with 92 balls remaining) – All too easy for them in the end, but well played Zim for reaching the final.

2:55pm (Zim time) Finally a wicket for Zimbabwe, but far too little far to late. WU Tharanga run out 72 (79b 8×4 1×6) SR: 91.13. Sri Lanka 160/1 (25.5 ov) Sri Lanka require another 40 runs with 9 wickets and 24.1 overs remaining

2:00pm (Zim time) Sri Lanka looking good: Sri Lanka 82/0 (13.0 ov) Required Run Rate 3.18

12:10pm (Zim time) Wicket: That’s it Zimbabwe all out for 199. Last wicket: CB Mpofu run out 6 (9b 0×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

12:05pm (Zim time) Wicket: Clean bowled, Graeme Cremer b Fernando 5 (10b 0×4 0×6) SR: 50.00. Zimbabwe 189/8 (45.5 ov) Zimbabwe in danger of not completing their overs.

11:55am (Zim time) Wicket: Charles Coventry looking to be aggressive, went down the track and heaved it straight to long-on. CK Coventry c Tharanga b BMAJ Mendis 18 (12b 3×4 0×6) SR: 150.00. Zimbabwe now 178/7 (43.3 ov)

11:48am (Zim time) Wicket: Greg Lamb is bowled by BMAJ Mendis for 37 (65b 1×4 0×6) SR: 56.92. Zimbabwe 163/6 (41.4 ov) – run rate 3.91

11:42am (Zim time) Wicket: Elton Chigumbura trying to up the pace, looses his wicket.Zimbabwe 155/5 (40.1 ov). Next man in is Charles Coventry

11:27am (Zim time) Wicket, Tatenda Taibu out for 71 and Zimbabwe are now 139/4 after 35 overs. Also slow going for Zim with a run rate of only 3.87. T Taibu c Kapugedera b Fernando 71 (93b 4×4 0×6) SR: 76.34

10:25am (Zim time) Zimbabwe loose their third wicket, Craig Ervine run out. Zimbabwe now 49/3. Greg Lamb is the new batsman.

9:45am (Zim time) Wicket: ogh no, Taylor gone Zimbabwe now 29/2 (9.3 ov). Brendan Taylor caught Samaraweera bowled Fernando 19 (22b 3×4 0×6) SR: 86.36. Craig Ervine is the new batsman.

9:21am (Zim time) Wicket: After a slow start Zimbabwe loose their first wicket, Zimbabwe 11/1 (4.5 ov). Hamilton Masakadza caught †Chandimal b Kulasekara 4 (23b 0×4 0×6) SR: 17.39. Tatenda Taibu is the new batsman.

Toss: Sri Lanka have won the toss and have chosen to field. Important toss as in every game so far in this tournament, the side batting second has gone on to win. Zimbabwe now need to change that stat.

The day started well with Zimbabwe winning the crucial toss and putting Sri Lanka into bat. Then initially Sri Lanka did very well and at one stage they looked like they were running away with the game, having scored 122 for no loss thanks largely to a rollicking start from Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Because Greg Lamb and Andy Blignaut were not playing due to some minor injuries, Zimbabwe tried to get the seamers’ overs out of the way early. Chris Mpofu bowled fairly well, but without any luck, whilst Elton Chigumbura and Chamu Chibhabha didn’t get much out of the pitch, nor did they have the pace to bother the Sri Lankans. In all their first 13 overs went for 89 runs, Dilshan getting 54 of those – eight fours and a six in them.

Enter Zimbabwe’s Spinners
Ray Price was introduced in the 12th over and with that came some control, he was accurate, aggressive and helped by some excellent fielding, began to build some pressure on the visitors.

Prosper Utseya, then got Dilshan stumped, followed up with Dinesh Chandimal’s wicket in the 25th over, and Zimbabwe was now back in the game.

Then a little surprisingly Hamilton Masakadza came to bowl for the first time in the tournament and managed a wicket with only his first ball. His celebration of showing off his vest with “just married” written on it, got him a few words from the umpire Rudi Koertzen, but I think he and everyone saw the funny side of it.

Sri Lanka had now lost 3 wickets for just 33 runs and from there it was all Zimbabwe, with Sri Lanka finally being bowled out for 236.

The Zimbabwe Batting Show

Led once again by the inform Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe never really looked like loosing all their wickets. They did however start a little slowly, but always kept the required run rate under 5. Hamilton Masakadza was first to fall for 3, his first failure in the tournament. Taylor then got great support from Chamu Chibhabha who eventually scored a good 58 of 81 balls after a slow start. Tatenda Taibu then played very well scoring an unbeaten 42 of 55 balls. But it was Brendan Taylor’s 119 not out that really anchored the run chase for Zimbabwe. He went to only his second century in ODI’s with a cheeky single and then most impressively made sure that he was there at the end to see Zim through.

So Zimbabwe finished the group stage at the top of the log, having only lost one game to Sri Lanka and twice beating India. We can now only hope that they play as well in the final:

The Final

The final also against Sri Lanka will be played on Wednesday 9th June at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), or 8:00 British Summer Time. In Sri Lanka and India, the match starts at 12:30. Hours of play (local time): 09.00 start, First Session 09.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.15, Second Session 13.15-16.45