Lady Chevrons batter Mayers shifts focus to hockey
AFTER a disappointing World Cup qualifiers which saw Zimbabwe missing out on ICC T20 cricket World Cup berth, Lady Chevrons top order batter, Sharne Mayers, will now shift her focus to the Indoor Africa hockey Cup tournament to be hosted by Namibia next week.
The Lady Chevrons batter is one of the two umpires from Zimbabwe that have been selected to officiate at the Indoor Africa Cup which also serves as a qualifier for the Indoor World Cup.
The tournament is expected to run from May 23-26 in Swakopmund, Namibia.
Mayers who recently returned from the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers is set to trade her bat for the whistle after being named as one of the two umpires from Zimbabwe who are set to officiate at the Indoor Africa Cup.
“I am very excited to be part of a World Cup qualifier and I am very passionate about hockey and it’s always a privilege to have the opportunity to officiate at international hockey,” said Mayers.
Mayers will be joined by Tawedzegwa Chadengwa on the umpires lists at the tournament and believes her experience as player at the cricket global qualifiers will play a part in the undertaking of her duties at the hockey tournament.
“I separate the two sports so that my performance in one sport doesn’t affect the other.
“Not qualifying for the T20 World Cup does make it easier to relate to players as I was in their position not so long ago.
“It does also make it very real that I have to be as prepared as possible to ensure that my decisions, as a hockey umpire, don’t affect a possible World Cup spot for the teams,” said Mayers.
Gavin Costa and Tafadzwa Makamure will be part of the technical officials at the games.
Both the men’s and women’s national teams are set to participate in the Indoor Africa Cup tournament which will act as a qualifier for the Indoor World Cup.
The two national teams will battle it out with South Africa, Botswana and hosts Namibia.
The local national teams begin their campaign with a date against the hosts Namibia on May 23 before playing Botswana the following day.
They complete their round robin assignments with a date each against South Africa on May 25.