Alwyn Pichanick
Alwyn Pichanick was a former president of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), who died on 9 October 2017 in Australia, where he had retired, at the age of 84. He was also former Sports Commission boss and Zimbabwe Cricket honorary life president.
Background
Pichanick's family were Jewish immigrants from Romania, although he himself was a committed Christian. He was a distinguished lawyer with Winterton, Holmes and Hill as a partner from 1956 until his retirement in 2013. He was the son of Harry, a former mayor of Salisbury, as Harare was then known, and secretary of the then Rhodesia Cricket Union. He was married to Bryony.[1]
Education
Pichanick was educated at Prince Edward School and the University of Cape Town where he graduated with a law degree.
Career
Alwyn played club cricket for Old Hararians and also represented Mashonaland, but made his greatest contributions to cricket in this country as an administrator. He was a national selector and also team manager from 1972 to 1975 for the national team that competed in South Africa’s Currie Cup, and served as president of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, as it then was, from 1976 to 1990.[2]
Since Independence in 1980, he worked hard towards gaining full International Cricket Council (ICC) membership and Test status for Zimbabwe. He was appointed a member of parliament for four years, and in 1991 as the first chairperson of the Sports and Recreation Commission, an appointment that bears testament to his reputation as a respected administrator beyond cricket circles. This appointment required him to stand down as ZCU president and it was left to Ellman-Brown to achieve Test status for Zimbabwe in 1992, but Pichanick's tenure had prepared the groundwork or this. Cricket in this country will always be greatly indebted to his untiring work and leadership for many years, and he has left a wonderful legacy.
