History of cricket in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe to 1992

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This article is an introduction to the history of first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia. The timespan of the article is from the formation of a first-class Rhodesian team in August 1890 until the inaugural Test appearance of Zimbabwe in October 1992.

1 Historical background
2 Rhodesian cricket
3 Zimbabwe cricket
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Historical background

The modern history of Zimbabwe starts with Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company in 1895. In 1911, the territory was divided into Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the latter becoming a self-governing British colony in 1922.

In 1953 the two parts of Rhodesia were reunited in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and after its dissolution in 1963, an independence movement in Southern Rhodesia was led by Ian Smith. Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia in 1965, and a unilateral declaration of independence occurred.

This was declared illegal by Great Britain, and 15 years of controversy and sanctions followed until finally the country gained official independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.

[edit] Rhodesian cricket

In cricket terms, Rhodesia was always tied to South Africa. The first recorded match in Rhodesia took place near Fort Victoria (modern Masvingo) on 16 August 1890. In the mid-1890s, the most important match of the Rhodesian domestic cricket season was Salisbury v Bulawayo. The first English representative team, led by Lord Hawke, visited in 1898-99.

First-class cricket was not established in the colony until the Rhodesian team began taking part in South Africa's Currie Cup competition from 1904-05. The initial first-class match was against Transvaal on 15 March-16 March 1905, at Johannesburg. Rhodesia lost by an innings and 170 runs. After this brief appearance, Rhodesia did not take part in the Currie Cup again until 1929-30. They played also in 1931-32, winning four out of five matches, but losing the cup to Western Province under the points system then in use. The Rhodesian team then did not return to until 1946-47, after which they at last played regularly. In the intervening period, Denis Tomlinson became Rhodesia's first Test cricketer when he was selected to tour England with the South African cricket team in 1935.

David Lewis was the captain of the Rhodesian team for 10 years, from 1953-54 to 1963-64, and the team included players such as Colin Bland, Godfrey Lawrence, Percy Mansell, Joe Partridge, Tony Pithey and David Pithey. By the 1970s, the team was captained by Mike Procter and included players such as John Traicos, Duncan Fletcher, and Robin Jackman. Despite its strong players, Rhodesia never managed to win the Currie Cup.

The team played in 1979-80 as "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia", and left the competition for good at the close of that season, after Zimbabwe officially became independent.

[edit] Zimbabwe cricket

The only first-class matches in the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons involved the Zimbabwean national cricket team against tourists. Zimbabwe became an associate member of the International Cricket Council on 21 July 1981, and played first-class matches on its inaugural tour of England in 1982. Zimbabwe won the 1982 ICC Trophy, and this can be seen as its first step towards Test status. The team competed in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, unexpectedly beating Australia in its first match. Later, the team was weakened when white Zimbabweans left the country to pursue their careers elsewhere, perhaps most notably Graeme Hick.

Zimbabwe was elected to full membership of the ICC in 1992, and played its inaugural Test match versus India at the Harare Sports Club on 18 October-22 October 1992. The match was drawn, and thus Zimbabwe became the first team to avoid losing its inaugural Test match since Australia beat England in the very first Test in 1877.

The main domestic competition is the Logan Cup which has a long history. This acquired first-class status from the 1993-94 season.