Shepherd Tichaendepi Makunura (23 October 1976 – 15 December 2022) was a Zimbabwean cricket player and coach. He played two Logan Cup seasons before retiring due to injury. He served as fielding coach of the Zimbabwe national cricket team and also coached Zimbabwe A, Zimbabwe Under-19s and several domestic teams.

Early life

Makunura was born in Salisbury (now Harare) on 23 October 1976. He attended Chengu Primary School in

Highfield Highfield may refer to: Places ;Places in England * Highfield, Bolton * Highfield, Derbyshire * Highfield, Gloucestershire *Highfield, Southampton *Highfield, Hertfordshire a neighbourhood in Hemel Hempstead * Highfield, Oxfordshire * Highfield, S ...

and then attended

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 ...

on a scholarship.

Playing career

Makunura was a right-handed batsman and right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler. His talent was identified by a

Zimbabwe Cricket Union Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

development program for urban areas and he made the national under-15 squad, as well as joining the

Takashinga Cricket Club Takashinga Cricket Club is a cricket club in Highfield, Harare. Some of its famous members include Andy Flower and Tatenda Taibu. The club's ground is located at the Zimbabwe grounds in the Highfield. As of 2007-08, it is one of the strongest c ...

. He played three matches for Mashonaland A in the

2001–02 Logan Cup The 2001–02 Logan Cup was a first-class cricket competition held in Zimbabwe from 15 February 2002 – 19 April 2002. It was won by Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provin ...

, recording a career-best 62 runs against

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. He returned to

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

in the 2006–07 season with two matches for Northerns against Southerns and

Kenya Select Kenya Select are a cricket team which took part in the revamped Logan Cup for 2007. They are the only side to have taken part in the tournament from outside Zimbabwe and it is the first time that a Kenyan cricket team which was not the national sid ...

. His playing career was cut short by an achilles tendon injury in 2007.

Coaching career

Makunura coached the

Zimbabwe national under-19 cricket team The Zimbabwe national under-19 cricket team represents Zimbabwe in under-19 international cricket Zimbabwe has qualified for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup on every occasion since 1998, by virtue of being a full member of the International Crick ...

from 2008 to 2010. He was head coach of Zimbabwe A for series against

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and

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in 2018, and also coached the Zimbabwe XI at the

2018 Africa T20 Cup The 2018 Africa T20 Cup was the fourth and final edition of the Africa T20 Cup, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa in September 2018, as a curtain-raiser to the 2018–19 South African domestic season. Provincial side Kwa ...

in South Africa. In the same year he joined the Zimbabwe national cricket team as fielding coach, a position he held until his death in 2022. In domestic cricket, Makunura led the

Mountaineers Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

franchise to three consecutive Logan Cup titles from 2017 to 2019. He then won a record fourth consecutive title with the

Southern Rocks The Southern Rocks is one of five Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in the Masvingo and Matabeleland South area. They play their home matches at Masvingo Sports Club in Masvingo. The team initially ceased t ...

in 2020.

Personal life and death

Makunura had two children with his wife

Sinikiwe Mpofu Sinikiwe Gava Mpofu (21 February 1985 – 7 January 2023) was a Zimbabwean cricket player and coach. She represented the Zimbabwe women's national cricket team at two editions of the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier. She later coached Mounta ...

, who played for the

Zimbabwe women's national cricket team The Zimbabwe women's national cricket team represents Zimbabwe in international women's cricket. The team is organised by Zimbabwe Cricket, a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Zimbabwe made its international debut in 200 ...

. Makunura died at the West End Hospital in Harare on 15 December 2022, following a long illness that had prevented him from travelling to the

2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. Although originally scheduled to be held in 2020, in July 2020, the International Cricket Counci ...

in Australia. He was buried at the Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare. Hardly a month after Makunura's passing, his wife,

also died after collapsing at her home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Makunura, Shepherd 1976 births 2022 deaths Cricketers from Harare Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwean cricket coaches Mashonaland A cricketers Northerns (Zimbabwe) cricketers