Richard Herbert Kaschula (born 9 November 1946) is a former 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, described by

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's Martin Williamson as "a legendary character in Zimbabwe cricket". A slow left-arm orthodox bowler from

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Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, Kaschula was a leading figure in the Rhodesian side throughout the 1970s. His batting was negligible, and his weight – up to 20 stone (c. 120 kg) during his career – made him slow in the field, but his bowling was effective and sometimes match-winning. In his first season of first-class cricket he took 41 wickets at an average of 14.83, helping Rhodesia to victory in the B Section of the

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. His best first-class figures came in October 1980 for

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

against the touring

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team, when he took 6 for 68 and 4 for 98, and Zimbabwe won by four wickets. Kaschula was South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year for 1972. He took 196 first class wickets at 25.71, 120 of them for Rhodesia and 44 for the

Zimbabwe national cricket team The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the Intern ...

after the country became independent but before it achieved Test status. After retiring he became a national selector. In 2006, following the government takeover of cricket administration, he was removed. His cousin, Nathaniel Kaschula, also played first-class cricket.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaschula, Richie 1946 births Living people Alumni of Chaplin High School Zimbabwean cricketers Rhodesia cricketers Sportspeople from Gweru