Wisdom Siziba

Wisdom Siziba was a wicketkeeper-batsman from the western suburbs of Bulawayo who enjoyed a relatively productive domestic career before joining the mass exodus from Zimbabwe to South Africa which was a hallmark of the later years of the Mugabe regime. He either opened or batted in the lower middle-order, and made a memorable debut for Matabeleland, carrying his bat for a four-hour 40. By far his most successful season came in 2001-02 when he scored 423 runs at 42.30, including his only first-class hundred, 103 opening the innings against Midlands. His last season was in 2004-05, and as Zimbabwe's cricketing infrastructure began to crumble, he was one of many lost to the game. He did not have a job after leaving school, preferring to earn his keep helping the ZCU with coaching, and as he attended a non cricket-playing school, he often had to make great sacrifices to continue playing. While he possibly lacked the footwork to succeed as a batsman at a higher level, he would have make an increasing impact in the first-class circuit. He died at the age of 29.
Steven Price