Dean at Stumps

VusiMuzi Sibanda tells us a story of humour, honesty and sadness. Tall and elegant at the crease, Vusi Sibanda’s trademark cover drives and muscular pull shots were a pure delight to watch. He starts off by telling Dean du Plessis about him and his opening partner and good friend Tino Mawoyo missing a flight to the West Indies in 2013. He bravely admits that the pace of Brett Lee unnerved him. He admits that approaching milestones such as 50s and hundreds often made him circumspect which lead to him playing poor shots and giving his wicket away. But Vusi’s story is also tinged with sadness as he relates a session much worse than the searing pace of Brett Lee, as he was made to sing racial discrimination songs in the official’s car in the early hours of the morning. He was called names, made to feel uncomfortable with the fact that he was the only black player in the invitational team he was picked to play in. At the age of 17 a traumatised Vusi Sibanda nearly gave up playing the game before he even started, due to one man’s bitter taunts and hatred. This is an interview with humour, honesty and sadness.

He made his international debut for Zimbabwe at the age of 18, and retired from international cricket at the grand old age of 21. Sean Ervine who showed immense promise with bat and ball for Zimbabwe, left the country in 2004 to take up a 14 year career playing county cricket for Hampshire. He remembers his childhood days with fondness, talks at great length about his short but promising career with Zimbabwe. From watching Matthew Hayden score 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth, to his first and only hundred he scored against India at the Adelaide Oval in 2004. He remembers handing in his letter of retirement to Zimbabwe Cricket in tears, and he talks about his time with Hampshire, and the influence the great Shane Warne who captained Hampshire had over Sean’s development as a cricketer.

“I believe that T20 cricket is a wonder vehicle to introduce fans to cricket, but, I hope Test Cricket survives for many more years”. Michael Hussey, one of the nice guys in World Cricket, takes time out to talk to Dean du Plessis about the importance of First Class cricket, his international career and his love of Test Cricket.

“At first, I missed the friends and family back in Zimbabwe, but, it didn’t take me long to realise that there was no light at the end of the tunnel with regards to Zimbabwe qualifying for Test Cricket’”. His highest test score is 178 against India. His highest ODI score is 126* against Sri Lanka. He scored a staggering 41112 first class runs which included 136 hundreds, and 158 50s, with a highest score of 405*. Graeme Hick talks to Dean du Plessis about his teenage life in Zimbabwe, how he got to play for Worcestershire, his international playing days with England, and his time as Australia’s batting coach.

David Mutendera burst onto the the scene as a big strapping lad in the U19 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa back in 1998, and many felt that Zimbabwe had finally found the fast bowler to replace an aging Eddo Brandes, and an overworked Heath Streak. Sadly that never happened. Mutendera remembers his test debut, which also turned out to be his last test match with sadness. “It was against New Zealand at Queens Sports club in Bulawayo back in 2000, and Guy Whittle refused to play, saying Craig Wishart should have been in the side ahead of me”. Mutendera who is now a selector also believes that Zimbabwe’s controversial former managing director Ozias Bvute had a big part to play in the deterioration, adding that because so many people of cricketing knowledge had “abandoned the ship, Zimbabwe cricket was left to Bvute’s mercy”.

He is passionate, he wears his heart on his sleeve, and he speaks from the heart. Zimbabwe’s Test captain Sean Williams has a heart to heart with Dean du Plessis. He talks in depth about Zimbabwe’s loss to the UAE in the crucial World Cup qualifier at Harare sports club. He fondly remembers the 2015 ICC cricket World Cup, and relives his ODI debut against a powerhouse South African team in 2005, and reveals who he loves batting the most with, as well as the coaches that inspired him to achieve what he has.

Fazeer Mohammed is a name which resonates with thousands of listeners and viewers in the Caribbean islands, from Jamaica to his home island of Trinidad and Tobago. Now, finally, he is beginning to make his mark in commentary boxes around the world, and although he isn’t on Social media, he has a world wide following. Fazeer talks about his first childhood memories of watching Michael Holding running in to bowl to the original little master Sunia Gavaskar. He shares his frustrations of not being able to commentate as much as former cricketers, but also expresses immense gratitude for what he has achieved. He talks about the styles of captaincy from Clive Loyd to Jason Holder, the West Indies chances of winning the series, and reminds us that the last Windows series win in England was back in 1988. In short, this is a conversation between 2 passionate lovers of the game who may never have played it, but who have so much to offer.

Dean du Plessis is once again joined by Cape Town based cricket fanatic and analyst Fatima Ahmed, better known as the Popping Crease who looks back at the first test played between England and the victorious West Indies

Sikandar Raza But, one of Zimbabwe’s all time favourites takes time to talk to Dean du Plessis about his recent signing up with CPL team the Trinbago Night Riders, as well as his childhood in Pakistan. Raza was hoping to become a fighter pilot, but that was not to be. He fondly remembers how he was picked to play for the Southern Rocks, a former franchise based in the Southern part of Zimbabwe, where he rubbed shoulders with a number of players both locally based and around the world. He remembers Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan in 2015, Zimbabwe’s test win against Pakistan, the country of his birth, and the euphoria of beating Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2017. Raza also admits that should he ever be offered the captaincy, he would consider it a challenge he would relish.

“I would like another bite at the cherrie” says AB de Villiers with a chuckle as he talks to Dean du Plessis. “I’m doing everything I can from staying fit to hitting balls, and hoping I can play one more tournament for South Africa”. If it works out, I would be very happy, if not, so be it. AB de Villiers, also known as MR 360 degrees talks about making a choice between Tennis and Cricket, his best test hundred, and the heated series between South Africa and Australia. “I knew something was happening in the Australian camp”. Referring to the sandpaper incident.