zimcricketnews.com

With the itinerary for the tour of Bangladesh now available (check the Fixtures page for details), Zimbabwe have begun their preparations for what they will no doubt hope will be a successful tour, if they're to regain the pride lost by Zim's dismal showing in the Champions Trophy. The players left out of that ill-fated trip have been counting their blessings, as there is now some pressue to make changes to the side. According to Sunday's Standard:

There is also pressure, sources said, on selectors to wield the axe on some of the players for "under-performance and complacency". The return of former "rebel" Gary Brent for the last Champions Trophy against Bangladesh, has also been seen as paving the way for more senior players, which will further keep the young team on its toes. The increasing emergence of other players in the first-class and domestic structures will also add to the pressure on the players currently in the national side.

Fair enough. The Sunday News spoke to two of the players now in the frame, Sean Williams and Christopher Mpofu. Mpofu in particular was happy not to have made the Champions Trophy squad:

"It was a blessing in disguise for me to miss the ICC Champions Trophy. I knew my chance was going to come. I am now aiming for the Bangladesh tour and eventually next year’s World Cup. I am working hard on my bowling."

Coach Kevin Curran, never short of an excuse, blamed the standard of the Indian pitches for a least contributing to Zimbabwe's woes - and to be honest, based on the performances of other team in the tournament, he probably has a point:

"The wickets we played on were just not ideal for one-day cricket because the ball stays low. We missed Terrence Duffin, he is a solid batsman and his absence opened a big gap in our top order. We also lost a lot of wickets in the first 10 overs of the match and it is difficult to recover from such a situation, one of our top three batsmen should bat through the overs."

Hopefully ZC will also be speaking to Vusi Sibanda's Australia club to ensure that the commitment they'd apparently been given over his international availability is honoured.
Zimbabwe Standard - Pressure to wield axe mounts on cricket selectors
Sunday News - Curran to make changes