After all the negative talk about Zimbabwe’s World Cup chances, here’s a little reminder of how the form book can be rendered meaningless. CricInfo’s Greatest World Cup Moments feature today features Zimbabwe’s first ever World Cup match, at Trent Bridge in 1983. Zimbabwe were then the top-ranked Associate nation (a position currently held by Kenya), and the only Associates in the competition courtesy of their victory in the 1992 ICC Trophy. Captained by a certain Duncan Fletcher (now England coach), their first opponents were Australia - and Zimbabwe, against all the odds, won. Definitely a little bit of history that’s worth a read, by way of inspiration…
CricInfo - Zimbabwe announce their arrival
Monthly Archive for February, 2007
…and it’s not just the national side recycled, for once. Following national trials in Harare over the past week, a formal ‘A’ squad has been named - their first taks will be to provide warm-up opposition for the national side ahead of next month’s World Cup.
Mluleki Nkala has been appointed captain of the side, while out-of-form Hamilton Masakadza drops down from the national side along with Piet Rinke and Graeme Cremer. Up-and-coming batsman Ryan Butterworth, who has been getting a lot of good press lately, also joins the side - and if comments about him on the ZC website are anything to go by, stands a reasonable chance of promotion to the national side if his form continues to be as good as it has been of late.
The full squad is:
Mluleki Nkala (capt), Eric Chauluka, Piet Rinke, Tinashe Hove, Hamilton Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, Alester Maregwede, Tino Mawoyo, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Timycen Maruma, Prince Masvaure, Prosper Tsvanhu, Admire Manyumwa, Ryan Butterworth, Trevor Garwe
Old Hararians (389/4; 50 overs) bt Glenshire (223/9; 50 overs) by 166 runs
Takashinga (200/4) bt Old Malvernians (199) by 6 wickets
Mark Vermeulen, currently facing arson charges over the fires at Harare Sports Club and the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, returned to domestic action last weekend after his bail conditions were relaxed to allow him to play again - although he’s still banned from playing at Harare Sports Club. He scored 39 for Old Hararians against Glenshire in a Vinge Cup match.
CricInfo has a short interview piece with Andy & Grant Flower, who ar currently in the West Indies playing for a World XI against the West Indies Allstars. As you’d expect, the article touches on whether the brothers would ever consider playing for Zimbabwe again, to which the answer is a “Yes, but…”:
Andy: “I walked away because of the state of affairs and not much has changed. Since then it has gone further downhill. I don’t believe things will change unless the government changes, so that’s the stage we are at.”
Grant: “A lot needs to be done to save the game of cricket in Zimbabwe. We would love to help, but we can’t work under the present bosses. Zimbabwe has been forced to field a team of kids and we have all seen the results. It’s not the players’ fault but I don’t see them doing very well in the World Cup out here.”
The same line as taken by a lot of former players, then - not before there’s a change at the top, and there’s no sign of that happening anytime soon.
CricInfo - Flower brothers still not keen
New Zealand v Australia: 3rd ODI Australia 346/5 (50 overs; Hayden 181*, Patel 2/70), New Zealand 350/9 (49.3 overs; McMillan 117, Johnson 3/81). New Zealand win by 1 wicket, win series 3-0.
According to ZC’s Domestic Calendar for this year (reprinted here), the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 ‘A’, Faithwear Cup ‘A’, and Inter-Provincial Twenty20 ‘B’ competitions are all meant to have taken place by now - but there’s been no indication on ZC’s website or in the Zimbabwean press that these tournaments have actually taken place. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know - but the lack of any information doesn’t leave me hopeful…
Speaking to the UK’s Sunday Telegraph (and buried in an article about Australia’s current woes, of all places), former Zim captain Tatenda Taibu has poured cold water on recent reports that ZC were making efforts to bring him back into the fold:
Tatenda Taibu has denied reports that Zimbabwe Cricket approached him with a view to playing in the World Cup. “That’s not true, I haven’t spoken to anyone in the Zim set-up,” the former captain said. He added that any such attempts would have failed. “Too much water has gone under the bridge for me to consider playing for Zimbabwe again.”
Makes you doubt just about any report you hear about former players, really…
Sunday Telegraph - Buchanan refutes claims his squad are overworked
New Zealand v Australia: 2nd ODI Australia 336/4 (50 overs; Hussey 105, Bond 1/39), New Zealand 337/5 (48.4 overs; Taylor 117, Watson 3/58). New Zealand win by 5 wickets, win series 2-0 with 1 to play. Australia lose top spot in the LG ICC ODI Rankings for the first time since they were introduced - South Africa are now the #1 ODI side.
India v Sri Lanka: 4th ODI Sri Lanka 259/7 (46 overs; Silva 107*, Agarkar 2/52), India 263/3 (41 overs; Yuvraj Singh 95*, Fernando 1/56). India win by 7 wickets, win series 2-1.