Mashonaland, the country’s largest cricket-playing province, has in recent years lost its stranglehold on domestic competition.“Our results so far have not been very pleasing,” Matsika said at a franchise function this week. “I believe we are not an average side but so far we have performed below average. We drew our first Logan Cup match against the Mountaineers at Harare Sports Club, but it was actually a case of us snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat. We then went on to draw the second four-day match against the Midwest Rhinos in Kwekwe.“Mash Eagles is a brand. But in sport you cannot have a powerful brand unless it is a winner. Caps United, Dynamos and Highlanders are brands because they are associated with victory. When they go through a lean spell, there is no rest with all the stakeholders looking at how they can return to winning ways.”The Elton Chigumbura-captained Eagles are currently playing Southern Rocks in a Logan Cup match at the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy in Harare.“We are still to record a win in the Faithwear one-day series,” Matsika said. “Unfortunately, while we have two draws in the longer version, we have two defeats in the limited overs format. Yes, it was a close-shave against the Midwest Rhinos in Kwekwe and we could easily have won as we needed just four runs from more than 18 balls but the fact as there was the run-out and we lost.”At the beginning of the season, Eagles signed notable players like wicketkeeperForster Mutizwa, one-day specialist batsman Barney Rogers and all-rounders Ryan Butterworth and Greg Lamb. — Staff Writer.
