Date-stamped : 18 Jan1999 - 11:04 18 January 1999 Maddy basks in warm-up task By Charles Randall in Harare FOR Darren Maddy it was a familiar, heartening story as England A launched their tour of Zimbabwe impressively on Saturday, and he will enter today's second 50-overs match in Harare full of confidence. England could hardly have hoped for more than the seven-wicket victory they achieved against Country Districts at the Harare South Country Club, 10 miles outside the city suburbs. Maddy could reflect on an all-round performance that justified his status as a credible World Cup candidate; relief was almost tangible after his stuttering form during the second half of last year's English season with Leicestershire. Maddy excelled in last winter's England A tour of Sri Lanka and he said on Saturday: "I have always enjoyed playing with the sun on my back." The Harare South pitch was slow and spongy, as to be expected from a strip that had taken more than seven inches of rain during the month, and conditions eased considerably when Maddy and Mal Loye put on 116 in 24 overs for the first wicket, which ensured that the Districts' total of 195 could be passed at jogging pace. Michael Vaughan's all-run four illustrated how fortunate England had been to be playing cricket at all. His fine-leg sweep was intercepted by Craig Evans near the boundary, but the Zimbabwe all-rounder overran the ball ponderously on a boggy patch of turf like the Queen Elizabeth missing the harbour entrance. The fixture lacked the usual holiday crowd atmosphere. Only a few dozen spectators drove out because the ground, without a working telephone for six weeks, could not guarantee the fixture taking place. Districts always found the England bowling tricky to dispatch, especially Jason Lewry's left-arm pace bowling, Dean Cosker's teasing left-arm spin and Maddy's skidders. Darren Thomas's figures were spoiled by two successive sixes helped into the trees by Gus MacKay, a club cricketer with Barnt Green, near Birmingham. Loye drove fluently for 86 in 135 balls, but it was Maddy who relieved any lingering anxiety with his crisp 52 off 66 balls. Districts were outclassed, and today's opponents at Harare Sports Club, the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, were warned. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)