New head coach a ‘Blessing’ for league leaders Downham Stow

Downham Stow Cricket Club have appointed Blessing Mahwire as its senior head coach.The former Zimbabwean cricketer has set his sights on promotion for the first team into the East Anglian Premier Cricket League.The Bikita-born player brings with him a wealth of international and domestic experience to the table and the club is excited to have him on board.The Norfolk Alliance Premier Division leaders are delighted to secure the services of Mahwire, who was the overseas player for Stow Cricket Club back in 2008.Mahwire – a fast-medium right-arm bowler and a hard-hitting tailender – has volunteered for the role with immediate effect.He was the first national player to come from the Masvingo area of Zimbabwe, where he turned in some impressive schoolboy performances, especially with the bat.He played 10 test matches for his country in the mid-2000s, taking 18 wickets and scoring one half-century (against New Zealand). Most notably, he claimed the prized scalps of Gautam Gambir and Rahul Dravid in his final test match on the international circuit. Mahwire also featured in 23 One Day Internationals, 77 first-class matches and 81 List A games.He is a Level 3 coach and his CV is packed with references to coaching teams at the highest levels of both domestic and school cricket in Zimbabwe.Downham Stow is looking forward to taking advantage of the Zimbabwean’s vast experience and is confident that they will see a tangible impact. The club’s new coach has agreed to assist with junior training, so the talented youngsters will also get to experience his coaching alongside the already well-established coaching team at the club.Mahwire plans to support a number of the youngsters in the club to achieve county status and one day he hopes to see a Downham Stow player make it to the international scene. On a personal level, the 41-year-old still feels he can play high-level competitive cricket and once he is eligible to play as a 3E (exempt overseas) player he plans to push some of the current squad for a first-team spot! In the medium to long term.Plans are also in the pipeline to begin his own cricket academy for talented youngsters in West Norfolk, based at Downham Stow. Mahwire will be at senior training on Tuesday evenings and youth training on Thursday evenings. He looks forward to getting to know all members and to supporting them on their cricketing journey.On Saturday, Downham Stow made it six wins from as many games in the Premier Division with a 10-wicket stroll at home to Bradfield.Finlay Wilcox and Freddie Fairey saw the home side home inside 14 overs after Dan Ward (5-41) and Jamie Cook (3-25) picked up eight wickets between them with the ball.