Alester Maregwede (born 5 August 1981) is a Zimbabwean

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He is a wicket-keeper and middle-order batsman. He has represented the Zimbabwe A team as vice captain. He made his first appearances on a West Indies tour in 2003-04 and, since the departure of many Zimbabwean team members, he has found himself playing on a regular basis. He has also represented the Midlands team in the

Logan Cup The Logan Cup is the premier domestic first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe. It is named after James Douglas Logan. History The first recorded cricket match in what was known at the time as Rhodesia was played in August 1890 near Fort V ...

. Maregwede was born and raised in the Harare suburb of Highfield and first played cricket at Chipembere Primary School. When he was 11 he played his first "proper" match, for Highfield against a High Glen Select XI and he was given the

wicketkeeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

's gloves for no reason other than that there was no one else to do it. He batted seven, top scoring with 42. Later he was named as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Highfield in an inter-suburb tournament which Highfield won. He won a ZCU scholarship to attend

Prince Edward School , streetaddress = , city = Harare , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , type = State school, boarding and day school , established = , headmaster = Dr. Aggrippa G. Sora , gender = Boys , lower_age = 13 , upper_age = 19 ...

but he ended up at Churchill School because of his need to board. Whilst he was still in first year he was named captain of a Zimbabwe Development XI for a tour to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He averaged 64 on the tour and he only lost one game. Because of this tour he started playing for Churchill's full team, as an opener and wicketkeeper. He made his first-class debut for Mashonaland "A" in the Logan Cup versus the full

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

side when he was only 16, scoring 5 and 19. Maregwede was admitted to the

CFX Academy The CFX Academy cricket team was a first-class cricket team representing the Zimbabwe's cricket academy in the country's domestic cricket competitions. They competed in the Logan Cup from 1999 until 2002. The club played their home matches at the ...

in 2000, missing his final year of school to go. He averaged 41 in the Logan Cup for the academy, with two fifties. Alester has since moved into the full Mashonaland side, with two hundreds and ten fifties. Maregwede's cricket heroes are

Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Australi ...

, and like many Zimbabweans,

Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...

. His proudest moment came in the U19 World Cup when he scored 64 against Australia. He also played first team rugby and hockey for Churchill and was a sprinter. Alester really enjoys travelling, and is glad that his cricket commitments give him the chance to visit many foreign countries. Alester was a vital member of the Mildura Settlers Cricket Clubs first premiership in 20 years. Alester has since parted ways with the club but is hopeful of remaining in the area.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maregwede, Alester 1981 births Living people Alumni of Churchill School (Harare) Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwean cricketers Masvingo cricketers Midlands cricketers CFX Academy cricketers Wicket-keepers