The Southern Rocks is one of five
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 ...
an cricket franchises. They are a
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 officia ...
team, based in the Masvingo and Matabeleland South area. They play their home matches at
Masvingo Sports Club
The Masvingo Sports Club is a cricket venue with first-class status in Masvingo. It was the home ground to one of Zimbabwe's provincial cricket sides, Southern Rocks, until the team's disbandment after the 2013–14 season. The ground has hosted ...
in
Masvingo
Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, ...
. The team initially ceased to play after the 2013–14 season. In their 47 first-class matches they won 3, lost 27, and drew 17. However, in December 2020,
Zimbabwe Cricket
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 ...
confirmed they would be one of the teams playing in the
2020–21 Logan Cup
The 2020–21 Logan Cup was the 27th edition of the Logan Cup, a first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe, which started on 9 December 2020. After originally scheduled to start on 3 December 2020, the tournament was moved back a week to allow ...
Southern Rocks won their first Logan Cup trophy in the same 2020–21 season .
Franchise history
Following the decline of the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe,
Zimbabwe Cricket
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 ...
used a new set of teams for all the first-class, List A and the
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...
formats of the game. The Southern Rocks were based in Masvingo and Matabeleland South area.
2009–10 Logan Cup
The Southern Rocks debut in the Logan Cup was disastrous. The Rocks played 12 matches and lost six, while drawing six. These included heavy defeats such as a 234-run defeat to Mash Eagles, an 8-wicket loss to Mountaineers, a defeat by an innings and 214 runs to Matabeleland Tuskers, an innings and 87 runs defeat to the Tuskers, an innings and 114 runs defeat to Mountaineers, an innings and 19 runs defeat to Mashonaland Eagles, etc. The team's first draw was against Mid West Rhinos, achieved at Masvingo Sports Club.
2009–10 Faithwear Metbank One-Day Competition
Southern Rocks lost their first ever List A match to Mountaineers by 5 wickets at
Mutare Sports Club, but duly bounced back to finish in fourth place in the group stage and qualify for the semi-final. In the semi, they were crushed by Mountaineers by seven wickets to eliminate them from the competition, despite
Steve Tikolo providing some resistance to Mountaineers with a 37 in a Rocks total of 131 all out.
2009–10 Stanbic Bank 20 Series
Rocks had a worse Stanbic Bank Twenty20 tournament in 2009–10 and finished in last place with just 1 win and four losses from five matches. Their only win came in a 43-run win over Matabeleland Tuskers, which was possible due to excellent batting from openers
Chamu Chibhabha
Chamunorwa Justice "Chamu" Chibhabha (born 9 September 1986) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. In January 2020, Zimbabwe Cricket named him as the captain of Zimbabwe's One Day International (ODI) an ...
and
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar Raza Butt (} ; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer, who plays all formats primarily as a batter.
Born in Sialkot, Raza emigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002 along with his family. He soon became one of ...
.
2010–11 Logan Cup
The Southern Rocks again had a very poor Logan Cup, with five defeats from 12 matches, and seven draws.
2010–11 Stanbic Bank 20 Series
The Rocks started the series with a bang. In an attempt to win the championship, the Rocks purchased former West Indian legend
Brian Lara, former English fast bowler
Ryan Sidebottom
Ryan Jay Sidebottom (born 15 January 1978) is a former England international cricketer who played domestic cricket for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and retired in 2017 after taking more than 1,000 career wickets. He is the only player in the ...
, and Zimbabwean-born Hampshire batsman
Sean Ervine
Sean Michael Ervine (born 6 December 1982) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer. Ervine played as an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace.
Ervine was born at Harare in Zimbabwe and played for his country in the 2003 ...
. The first match Rocks played was lost by 28 runs, despite Lara top-scoring with 65 on
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...
debut. Eventually, the Rocks finished fourth in the group pool.
As the Rocks did not proceed to the semis, they fought for third place in the group with Matabeleland Tuskers. In that match, they were crushed by nine wickets with
Charles Coventry leading the way with a boundary-laden 67*.
2011–12 Logan Cup
The Rocks currently are having an awful Logan Cup, being at the bottom of the group with 4 defeats from 4 matches.
2011–12 Coca-Cola Pro50 Championship
The Southern Rocks are currently third in the group with 2 victories from 5 games. They have shown promise, including a remarkable tied game against
Mid West Rhinos
The Mid West Rhinos is one of the four cricket Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in Midlands Province and the Mashonaland West area. They play their home matches at Kwekwe Sports Club in Kwekwe.
History
...
, with Rocks captain
Tatenda Taibu
Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. From 6 May 2004 to 5 September 2019, he held the record for being the youngest test captain in his ...
scoring a hundred.
2011–12 Stanbic Bank 20 Series
Southern Rocks had an awful tournament, finishing in last place, without a single victory out of four games. The lost three, and one resulted in a no-result. They thus missed out on a place in the semi-finals, with Mashonaland Eagles sealing fourth place.
2014 suspension
In April 2014 the Southern Rocks franchise was suspended. From the 2014–15 season Southern Rocks no longer competed, and there were only four domestic teams in Zimbabwe.
2020 return
In December 2020, the team returned for the
2020–21 Logan Cup
The 2020–21 Logan Cup was the 27th edition of the Logan Cup, a first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe, which started on 9 December 2020. After originally scheduled to start on 3 December 2020, the tournament was moved back a week to allow ...
first-class cricket tournament.
Their first game back was against
Matabeleland Tuskers
The Matabeleland Tuskers is one of five Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in the Bulawayo Metropolitan and Matabeleland North area. They play their home matches at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. They were ...
. In the same season the team won its first
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 ...
ending the season without a defeat.
In the Domestic T20 competition the Rocks finished third after losing to Mashonaland Eagles in the semi-finals.
Players
When the franchise was debuting in the
2009-10 Logan Cup, the team consisted of Zimbabwean international and domestic players, although some foreign internationals already started taking part, for example, Kenya's
Steve Tikolo and
Thomas Odoyo
Thomas Odoyo Migai (born 12 May 1978) is a former Kenyan cricketer and a former One Day International captain. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed medium-fast bowler, often regarded as the best ever bowler produced by Kenya in inter ...
. Key players included
Chamu Chibhabha
Chamunorwa Justice "Chamu" Chibhabha (born 9 September 1986) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. In January 2020, Zimbabwe Cricket named him as the captain of Zimbabwe's One Day International (ODI) an ...
(captain),
Erick Chauluka
Erick Chauluka (born 9 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean cricketer.
Career
Chauluka is a member of the Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare, and captained the club in 2007.
Domestic career
Chauluka made his first-classdebut for Manicaland in the ...
, rising star and batting talent
Craig Ervine
Craig Richard Ervine (born 19 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer who captains Zimbabwe in limited overs cricket, limited overs matches. Ervine is a left-handed Batting (cricket), batter. He was born in Harare and has played Te ...
, spinner
Tafadzwa Kamungozi,
Keith Kondo, fast bowler
Blessing Mahwire
Ngonidzashe Blessing Mahwire (born 31 July 1982) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who plays first-class cricket for Mashonaland and has also made appearances for the Zimbabwean cricket team in both the Test match and One Day International forms of the ...
, wicket-keeper batsman
Alester Maregwede
Alester Maregwede (born 5 August 1981) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. 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 t ...
, spinner Hilary Matanga, Odoyo, Tikolo, and rising young fast bowler
Brian Vitori.
For the
2009-10 Stanbic Bank 20 Series, the Rocks made their first big signings when they purchased
Hampshire County Cricket Club stalwart batsman,
Sean Ervine
Sean Michael Ervine (born 6 December 1982) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer. Ervine played as an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace.
Ervine was born at Harare in Zimbabwe and played for his country in the 2003 ...
, and former Australian cricketer
Ian Harvey
Ian Joseph Harvey (born 10 April 1972) is a former Australian cricketer. He was an all-rounder who played 73 One Day Internationals for Australia and was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004 for his performances in c ...
.
![Brian Lara Portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Brian_Lara_Portrait.jpg)
They started the 2010–11 season with a bang. In a bid to win the
2010-11 Stanbic Bank 20 Series, the Rocks signed former West Indian legend
Brian Lara, (who holds the record for the two highest ever scores in
Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...
: 400* and 375), and a former English great fast bowler
Ryan Sidebottom
Ryan Jay Sidebottom (born 15 January 1978) is a former England international cricketer who played domestic cricket for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and retired in 2017 after taking more than 1,000 career wickets. He is the only player in the ...
.
Sean Ervine
Sean Michael Ervine (born 6 December 1982) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer. Ervine played as an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace.
Ervine was born at Harare in Zimbabwe and played for his country in the 2003 ...
also was retained from the previous season. Lara made his
Twenty20
Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inn ...
debut and scored 65 on his debut, top-scoring with 65, and added a further 34 runs from 2 innings, before leaving citing commitments elsewhere. Nevertheless, Southern Rocks finished third in the series.
For the 2011–12 season, the only substantial overseas signings were
Jon Kent of South Africa and the Kenyan
Alex Obanda
Alex Auma Obanda (born 25 December 1987) is an international Kenyan cricketer who has played first class cricket for Kenya Select.
Domestic career
When the side participated in the Logan Cup in 2007, Obanda made his first class debut and had a ...
. The results were not so bright, with Southern Rocks finishing bottom of the group pool at the
2011-12 Stanbic Bank 20 Series and thus getting eliminated. Their coach was former English O.D.I. cricketer,
Monte Lynch.
In their come back season in the
2020–21 Logan Cup
The 2020–21 Logan Cup was the 27th edition of the Logan Cup, a first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe, which started on 9 December 2020. After originally scheduled to start on 3 December 2020, the tournament was moved back a week to allow ...
, they brought in Northamptonshire Top Order Batsman,
Ben Curran and Essex Bowler
Shane Snater
Shane Snater (born 24 March 1996) is a Zimbabwean-born Dutch cricketer. He made his first-class debut for the Netherlands against Afghanistan in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup on 29 July 2016. He made his List A debut for the Netherlan ...
. Zimbabwe internationals
Blessing Muzarabani
Blessing Muzarabani (born 2 October 1996) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He made his first-class debut for Rising Stars in the 2017–18 Logan Cup on 4 October 2017.
Early and domestic career
Blessing Muzarabani was born in Murewa, a small town i ...
,
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar Raza Butt (} ; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer, who plays all formats primarily as a batter.
Born in Sialkot, Raza emigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002 along with his family. He soon became one of ...
,
Tendai Chisoro
Tendai Chisoro (born 12 February 1988) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who represents the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He made his international debut for Zimbabwe in October 2015.
Domestic career
Chisoro was the leading wicket-taker in the 2017â ...
,
Richmond Mutumbami
Richmond Mutumbami (born 11 June 1989) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. A wicket-keeper batsman, Mutumbami made his first-class debut as a 17-year-old against Southerns in April 2007. Six years later, in April 2013, he made his international debut in ...
,
Brian Mudzinganyama and
Cephas Zhuwao
Cephas Zhuwao (born 15 December 1984) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer. He bats left-handed and bowls slow left arm orthodox spin.
Zhuwao made his first-class debut for Northerns in May 2007, having made his limited-overs debut in Ja ...
formed the nucleus of the Southern Rocks alongside former
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 climbin ...
players
Roy Kaia
Roy Kaia (born 10 October 1991) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Mountaineers. He made his international debut for the Zimbabwe cricket team in May 2015.
Domestic career
Kaia was part of the 2010 Zimbabwe U19 team tha ...
,
Innocent Kaia
Innocent Kaia (born 10 August 1992) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He made his Twenty20 debut for Zimbabwe in the 2017 Africa T20 Cup on 15 September 2017. In December 2020, he was selected to play for the Southern Rocks in the 2020–21 Logan Cup.
...
and
William Mashinge
William Takudzwa Mashinge (born 6 October 1996) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who has represented the Mountaineers in Zimbabwean domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm fast-medium and bats right-handed.
Mashinge was born in Maron ...
.
Home stadium
The Southern Rocks played their home matches in the
Masvingo Sports Club
The Masvingo Sports Club is a cricket venue with first-class status in Masvingo. It was the home ground to one of Zimbabwe's provincial cricket sides, Southern Rocks, until the team's disbandment after the 2013–14 season. The ground has hosted ...
,
Masvingo
Masvingo is a city in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city is situated close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and close to Lake Mutirikwi, its recreational park, ...
.
Administration
* Owner:
Zimbabwe Cricket
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 ...
* General Manager:
Blessing Mahwire
Ngonidzashe Blessing Mahwire (born 31 July 1982) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who plays first-class cricket for Mashonaland and has also made appearances for the Zimbabwean cricket team in both the Test match and One Day International forms of the ...
* Coach:
Shepherd Makunura[Monte Lynch to coach Southern Rocks]
ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2011
References
{{Stanbic Bank 20 Series
Zimbabwean first-class cricket teams
Former senior cricket clubs in Zimbabwe