THE QUADRANGULAR- 1984 Business Times & 1992 TCA Souvenir

The 24^th Quadrangular cricket competition hosted by Tanzania was quite a success despite a few hiccups before the tournament such as the unavailability of the Daressalaam Gymkhana ground. As a matter of fact this has been the only instance when no matches were played there but once the Kinondoni ground was sought as its alternative the tournament went off flawlessly. It was all a ‘play up and play the game ethnic’.

The Kinondoni ground with its lush mango tree, Tazara hostel background and a bar resembled an English County ground, and provided an ideal venue for cricket. A big crowd witnessed the games, alike the past when so many used to throng the cricket grounds.

The emotional involvement seemed quite intense as even ladies with little or no knowledge of the game turned up at the ground. It echoed with the noise of fervent fans and zealots who cheered their mates no end. On the other hand Burhani ground where other than Tanzanian games were played saw only scattered spectators.

For cricket fans, necessarily non partisan, this tournament promised a great deal of exciting, exhilarating cricket but regrettably none of the games or for that matter no such performance really created an impact of a sort.

Therefore while the Tanzanian cricketers may be celebrating a well deserved victory, there are quite a few who will dispute them this benefit in the light of mediocre performance by the other competing teams. But it remains a fact that today Tanzania reigns supreme in cricket in East and Central Africa. All along Tanzania might have been performing well but the honours mostly went to Zambia for that used to be ‘so near, yet so far’ story.

Reviewing the Quadrangular the first point that needs mention is the selection of the team. While the choice of the players seemed satisfactory it is also true that no fair deal was meted out to AK Sports Club’s Ayzaz Jessani. Ayzaz’s inclusion in the squad would have definitely given the selection more justification.

Another point to be made refers to the fixture of the tournament. It somewhat appeared odd. It is a known fact that Uganda have always been out of reckoning and the last game therefore ought to have been between the hosts and either Zambia or Malawi. That would have given the tournament a real climax.

But having said that what a performance Uganda put up! Despite all the odds and lack of resources they displayed wonderful cricket. With good old Walusumbi in his forties their batting was brittle but thrilled the crowd with some real hard hitting. Their bowlers were quick and menacing.

The Zambians and Malawians fielded old guys and did not prove much of a threat though Zambia displayed a couple of fine knocks, commendable opening pace attack and some splendid wicket keeping by Janak Patel. Zambia beat Malawi by 5 wickets emerging runners up. Malawi finished third while Uganda last having lost all their games.

Tanzania beat all the three convincingly and each by a margin of 6 wickets before lifting the Sir Robert Menzes trophy. Their urge to win the trophy and in particular at home before their own crowd was insatiable, and under the able managership of Vinod Asar and captaincy of Hitesh Patadia they have reached their peak and overtaken Zambia as far as the supremacy of East and Central African cricket is concerned.

Patadia, having accomplished this rare feat of winning the Quadrangular for the second year running, now stands on the threshold of greatness for his contribution to Tanzania cricket. He is a pleasant, determined and courageous guy. His fierce will to succeed and a never say die attitude enabled him apply tactfully the resources at his disposal and also lead his team as a cohesive unit.

Patadia might have batted briefly but his short innings demonstrated his batting power. He claimed 6 wickets with his canny and accurate bowling. His fielding was superb and his astute throws accounted for a couple of run outs.

The feature of Tanzanian side was its freshness and Patadia led a youthful side which touched new heights in fielding. The most successful teams are the fielding sides. In no other sphere of the game is good teamwork more obvious and this was amply demonstrated by the Tanzanians.

Take for instance the game against Zambia; Sanjay Pandya’s full length diving catch, Jameel Kermali’s acrobatic one and Shakir Sherali’s two stunning catches accounted for the dismal batting performance of the Zambians.

As far as Tanzania’s batting was concerned its line up stretched till number eleven. Imagine half the side never batted. The backbone was Gulamraza Sheriff(Zimbo). He is a solid batsman whose approach is prudent. He accumulated 113 runs, highest for Tanzania. He is the type of batsman who has the ability to rise to the occasion and he has demonstrated this several times. It seems essential for Tanzania that if it wants to make a fight of the game Gulamraza must score.

The left handed opener Hasnain Tejani well known for his marathon innings in the previous Quadrangulars lacked fluency though he consolidated the Tanzanian innings with long enduring knocks.

The debutant Salim Nurdeen delighted the crowd with a fine innings of 69 against Malawi and deservedly received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Jameel Kermali besides his haul of 4 wickets with his off breaks proved an exciting and fluent stroke maker willing to take any chance. Runs piled up as he came to bat. With a batting average of 75 he put up the finest all round performance for Tanzania.

Indeed the cricket loving public has been captivated by the dazzling cover drives of Hitesh Davda. He only tends to stretch a bit more and in the process drifts away missing the line of the ball. Davda also bowled economically taking 3 wickets.

In fact it has always been our bowlers who have held the trump cards. None of the teams managed to cross 200 against Tanzania. The pace men Viru Kamania and Kazim Nasser bowled accurately to share 7 wickets between them. Then followed Sajjad Lakha and his company of spinners to bundle out the rest.

Sajjad still remains our strike bowler. With his attacking field the opponents were just in owe of him. Not many could read him and even those who did on no occasion hit him out of the attack. His bag of 7 wickets deservedly earned him the ‘Best Bowler’ award. It is rather sad that East and Central African cricket lacks statistics but it is definite that Sajjad playing in his 12^th Quadrangular has collected nothing less than 70 wickets which must be a Quadrangular record.

The curtain has now fallen on the Quadrangular and various assessments are made. Sadly there is one person whose enormous contribution to our cricket is overlooked. He is Shakir Sherali who has no peer in the fielding department. In a sense the highlight of the tournament was a spectacular catch at deep mid wicket by Shakir.