Monday’s Maiden: Zahira Kharsany aka @zk

Zahira is the community manager and content lead at Brandsh now known as Native. Typical South African female, she loves cricket football and rugby. When she is not glued to her iphone, she is getting into a argument with somebody (just kidding, Z). You can follow zk on Twitter.

1. The generic question: where does your love for cricket come from?

- Have to say that is came from my father and uncles. Weird since they somehow still felt a lot of the ‘past’ in them but still got us youngsters all watching the games. Remember clearly watching the Benson & Hedges series and screaming for the Natal boys. Also have to say that the passion carried through to playing out on the streets, which many Indian suburbs in Durban are famous for.

2. Biggest challenge being a female blogger/sports presenter/female cricket lover?

- Being taken seriously by the boys who think that as a girl you really have no idea as to what is happening in the match and you only watching it to ‘check out the hot guys’. Yah you get the idea. Once proven you know a thing or two, they learn to shut up. O and the fact that you can get up close to the players as a woman has its advantage. Can you say jealousy?

3. If there were manhole covers on the outfield, would the game be more interesting?

- Most definitely, especially if you let little gremlins pop up and steal a ball or two. Picture a video game, maybe smilar to pacman eating the ball. Lol Funny times and maybe would also get the players fitter in a sense that the faster they get to the ball the more likely they will get the opposing team out. Would make it interesting but would loose a little of what cricket is really about. Vivid imagination aside, the game is perfect the way it is. Changes like Pro20 and League series increase excitement and those are welcome changes to any game.

4. How do you think we can promote the game to girls and get them interested (the hot cricketers don’t count)?

- getting girls interested starts at the root level. We need to get more youngsters playing the game in its various formats. There should never be anything to the effect that it’s a men’s only game. Parents need to start giving girls the chance to play even mini cricket. It all starts young.

5. How would you explain the game of cricket to somebody who’s never watched it before?

- this is a toughie. Cricket is not an easy game but the best way to get someone interested of late is through the shorter version of the game. The hype around Pro20 and IPL has definitely peaked the interest of people who really don’t watch the game. Explaining it, is not as easy as using salt and pepper shakers as one does in explaining the off side rule in football. Cricket is about two teams, one that fields first and the other that bats and vice versa. The aim as a batter is to protect your wicket and to make as many runs as possible. The aim of the fielding side is to get the opposition out with the least amount of runs being scored. A run is scored by running between the wickets or hitting the ball hard enough to get it to the perimeter of the ground similar to baseball. After that the teaching occurs while a game is being played.

6. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

- Insanity Personified, Sport G33k, zk Unplugged

think they would be daft to write a bio on me though.

7. If we could teach monkeys to play cricket, would they play on a standard sized field?

- they would play on a little bigger field depends on their aerial ability and whether monkeys are playing on the ground or up a tree. My guess though would be that the conniving bastards would ask for a reduced sized field due to their sizes and then whip that ball in all directions. A high scoring match of sorts.

8. What’s the reaction when you are watching cricket with guys who don’t know you, somebody appeals and you say: “no way, too high, pitched outside” and the replays show exactly that?

- They usually look at me flabbergasted and wondering how this chick knows all this. “Ekse who taught this stekkie to tjoon about cricket”. Can you imagine it When I get decisions right more often then them they soften up and ask my opinion, but usually first reaction is ‘huh how the f&*k did you figure that out’.

9. Who is going to win the World Cup in 2011?

- are this one is another toughie. My heart is says South Africa but this is cricket and as we’ve seen lately anything is possible. England seem to be giving people a difficult time and the Australians are lacking the lustre that we usually see from them (ed: this answer was written prior to the current goings on in Australia!). Don’t write of the Indians and the series against South Africa will show us their true potential. I am going to go with my heart though and say South Africa.

10. Have you ever fielded at short third man?

- Nope never. Chances are I was always in at cover point or mid-wicket. If I were at third short I would definitely miss the ball and be hit in areas I would prefer not to.

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