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After laying into ZC’s financial woes, the Sunday Mail has another piece, this time looking at what ZC are doing to help the national side on their way back to Test cricket. Supported by quotes from coach Robin Brown, their line seems to be that it’s not time yet (although it seems ZC forgot to tell them that the India tour has been cancelled). Asked on if he thought the current side was ready, Brown was quite clear:

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near there yet. I think the more of these four-day games we play the better we’ll get. There has been an improvement. The concentration levels are rising; the bowlers are bowling better lines. But I don’t think you become a Test player over 12 games. County players are playing that in a season and will have played quite a few more before they reach Test level.

“”I think [repeated heavy defeats] knocks the confidence. I really do. I think you’ve got to get guys in the top six making hundreds on a regular basis before thrusting them into Test cricket and we haven’t been doing that.

“I don’t think our local league helps us. The talent is spread too wide with 14 first league sides which is too many given that we don’t have 150 to 160 first-class players. When you haven’t got anyone aged 25 to 30 playing for you (aside from Gary Brent and Ray Price), there’s a missed generation there. Those are the guys that should be playing league. Your Stuart Carlisles and Trevor Grippers and teaching the guys as they go along. But suddenly you take all of that experience out of the way and expect these guys to fill the breach with no playing experience. It makes it hard. It’s unfair to expect them to fill that gap straight away.”

Nice to see that the coach is honest and not completely towing the party line. The plan still seems to be for Zim to return to Test cricket against Sri Lanka later in the year, but with no cricket currently scheduled between the end of May and the Sri Lanka tour, that’s surely still too soon.
Sunday News - Is Zim ready for Test status?