England v Pakistan: 1st ODI England 202 (49.2 overs), Pakistan 46/1 (7.0 overs). Match abandoned (rain), series level 0-0.
Monthly Archive for August, 2006
Just spotted this, although it’s been running for a while - former Zim captain Heath Streak has a regular column over at skysports.com, focussing mostly on Warwickshire but also taking a look at some other topical issues. The most recent update includes Streak’s thoughts on the Darrel Hair / Pakistan controversy.
skysports.com - Streak’s Life
England v Pakistan: Twenty20 International England 144/7 (20 overs), Pakistan 148/5 (17.5 overs). Pakistan win by 5 wickets.
CricInfo has more on the reorganisation of the domestic game in Zim. The problem they’re trying to address is the poor quality of the game at club level, and the fact that few of the 10 new provinces would be able to raise a decent-quality first class squad. With this in mind, the national league (previously played at club level) will now be made up by five representative sides: the national team, Zimbabwe A, a Board XI, Zimbabwe Development and the National Academy. I can see the logic in what they’re trying to do here, but there’s a problem in that playing 5 “national” teams doesn’t give people much to latch onto in terms of supporting them - there’s nothing in each side, other than perhaps the full national team, that spectators can connect to. It may have been wiser retaining the provincial names for that reason.
The Logan Cup, meanwhile, will now be contested between Manicaland, Midlands, Harare and Bulawayo sides.
CricInfo - Zimbabwe announce domestic overhaul
Courtesy of the Sunday News, a quick between-series update on the current squad. Edward Rainsford, Anthony Ireland, Terrence Duffin and Brendan Taylor have returned to the UK to fulfil their club committments, and are due back in Zim at the beginning on September, when training begins again ahead of the Australia Academy series. Tawanda Mupariwa and Anthony Ireland have confirmed injuries after the Bangladesh series - Mupariwa with a twisted ankle following his 3rd ODI heroics, Ireland with a cracked toe picked up in the final match. Both are expected to have recovered in time for the upcoming games.
Sean William’s place in the Zimbabwe setup was put in doubt when he returned to the UK during the series against Bangladesh A, despite Kevin Curran’s efforts to persuade him to agree to play for the national side. Curran still wants him in the side, but there seems to be some doubt abouth whether that will happen:
“Sean Williams is an ideal all-rounder. He had to go back to fulfil his contract in England and will make a decision on whether he wants to play for Zimbabwe after that. He is one player I need in my squad, he is good in all the aspects of the game—batting, bowling and fielding.”
The article also addresses the eternal question of picking “rebel” players, although with the now-standard non response:
Curran said if there are players who wanted to make themselves available for selection, they are welcome to do so.
Sunday News - Zimbabwe eyes Champions Trophy
Writing in The Zimbabwean, Peter Whalley considers whether a boycott of Zimbabwean cricket - as regularly called for by those who saw the affect sporting boycotts had on the South African government during apartheid - would have any effect on the ZANU(PF) government:
Although this line of thought is morally correct, it does ignore certain realities which make the Zimbabwean situation completely different to the one that existed in apartheid-ruled South Africa.
There will come a time when the Zanu (PF) leviathan is no more and its fellow travellers on the cricket gravy train will disappear, so that genuine cricket-loving Zimbabweans can take the game to new heights from a position of growing strength. This is surely preferable to a situation of starting from scratch, which would be the case if those pressing for Zimbabwe’s total isolation had their way.
This is not to state that disapproval of the current state of affairs should fall away, but it must not be at the expense of the development of Zimbabwean cricket. It is to be hoped that individual cricketers will continue to stand up for what they believe are important principles as Andy Flower and Henry Olonga did during the 2003 world cup and Tatenda Taibu more recently.
These are the kinds of headline-attracting actions that will keep the world’s attention on Zimbabwe, while cricket tries to keep its head above water. It is important that people with a genuine love for the game keep the flag flying until the day when real change will once again see Zimbabwe regain its position as the jewel of Africa in all fields, not just cricket ones.
It’s worth pointing out that The Zimbabwean is usally very pro-isolation, so this is a change to their usual editorial tune. The argument mirrors a recent discussion over at Caught Behind! with The Burnt Bail’s Chris Fogarty. Other arguments aside, I can’t help but think that all the moral handwringing that every tour of Zimbabwe seems to bring gives more publicity to the situation in Zim than any boycott ever could…
The Zimbabwean - Whither Zimbabwe cricket?
Speaking to The Independent, Zim coach Kevin Curran has indicated there are unlikley to be any changes to the Zimbabwe squad for the upcoming series against Australia Academy and in South Africa:
“We will pick the squad from guys who played against Bangladesh.”
Nice to see them sticking with the same core team now, after several series where changes were commonplace. Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive Gerald Majola has ruled SA out of replacing Pakistan in England, citing their exisiting committment to play Zimbabwe:
“We were approached by the ECB earlier this week, requesting the Proteas to replace Pakistan should they withdraw from the ODI tournament against England. We have turned down the request on the basis that we are committed to playing against Zimbabwe in the three-match ODI tournament starting next month.”
SA were one of the team linked with filling in for Pakistan should the Asian team pull out of their series in England following the 4th Test ball-tampering furore.
Zimbabwe Independent - Zim face ODI test
CricInfo - South Africa turn down England approach
CricInfo have an interview with Zim captain Prosper Utseya, looking at his playing history and elevation to captain, while studiously avoiding any comment on ZC itself. Well worth a read. He’s particularly optimistic about the future:
“There is a bright future ahead of us. As I mentioned, the good thing is that ours is a young side that is willing to learn and play cricket for the love of it. All we need to do is make sure we try and play cleanly and adjust to Test cricket. And we need to play more games, and when we do, we need to play well.”
Given their next opponents will be South Africa - currently the #2 ODI side - they’ll need a good bit of luck to go with that optimism (although with SA’s current injury problems, now’s as good a time to play them as ever).
CricInfo - ‘Respect comes along’
A third ODI has been added to Zim’s upcoming tour of South Africa, after SA coach Mickey Arthur asked for more matches to be arranged for his team following SA’s withdrawal from the tri-series in Sri Lanka. The additional match will be played in Potchefstroom on 20 September.
cricket.co.za - Another MTN ODI match for the Proteas
Canada v Bermuda: 2nd ODI Bermuda 272/7 (50 overs), Canada 261 (49.1 overs). Bermuda win by 11 runs, win series 2-0.