Manager Win Justin-Smith talks about the Zimbabwe Under-19 team recently returned from the Coca-Cola Week in South Africa, and their preparations for the Under-19 World Cup.

The Under-19s flew to Johannesburg on Wednesday 15 December. We were met at the airport and taken up to Potchefstroom, where we were billeted at the Potchefstroom Boys High School. The first day the official photographs were taken and then we were taken to watch the day-night game between North West and Border at their new stadium.

During the week there were a few official functions, with braais (barbecues) for the players and officials, and a team dinner out, which was great for team-building. There was a debriefing meeting at the end of the festival when the pairings were announced for the play-offs that were to take place the next day. There were two sections, with ten teams in each, so we obviously couldn't play all the other sides during the week. We were in the A Section and played four games; after that all the teams were rated on the number of points gained for wins, or drawn matches in the case of rain-affected matches, and also on net run-rate. The teams were then paired for play-offs for various positions on the fifth and last day of the Week.

Before that there were debriefing meetings: the boys met with Bob Woolmer, who talked to them about what he had seen during the week, and the officials had a meeting with Jimmy Cook, the former Test player, who talked about coaching. There was a presentation dinner which is always a great highlight, especially for the South African boys who get to hear who is selected for the A team to play against the host province, or the South African Colts whom we played, and this time the South African World Cup squad as well. We then flew back to Harare on 22 December, so the boys had a break for Christmas before going back into training again for the World Cup.

With regard to the actual, cricket, the boys did not do as well as I would have liked; I think the team has a lot more potential than they actually showed. The batting I think let us down initially, although it came better towards the end of the week. Our bowling was always a force to be reckoned with; we got other sides out for reasonable totals and the bowling certainly was one of the aspects of the tour which I appreciated.

First of all we played Gauteng A. We won the toss and decided to bat, but were all out for only 168 in 46 overs, which was not good in limited-overs cricket, where we look to bat out the full 50. Gauteng passed our score with only two wickets down, one being a run out while Travis Friend took the other. So we lost quite badly. It was a hard track that gave some assistance to the bowlers, but that was no excuse for our batsmen who played expansive shots far too early in their innings, without realising that 50 overs is a long time and they need to use all of them.

ZIMBABWE 168 (46 overs) (M. Nkala 30, G. Lamb 25, S. Ervine 24). GAUTENG A 170/2 (44 overs). Gauteng A won by eight wickets.

Our second game was against Western Province. This time when we won the toss we decided to field, and this is where the bowlers came in useful because we got them out for 167. I think they were a strong side, as they normally are. The pitch was fine and the batsmen did not seem in obvious difficulty, but the bowlers were nevertheless on top throughout the match. We were 70 for five when rain affected play, which washed out play for the rest of the day, and we lost eventually by 57 runs on calculation. There was a formula, not the Duckworth-Lewis, which had to be worked out should rain stop play. For our batsmen, only our opener Alester Maregwede prospered.

WESTERN PROVINCE A 167 (43 overs) (M. Nkala 4/18, S. Ervine 3/35). ZIMBABWE 70/5 (27 overs) (A. Maregwede 28 not out). Western Province A won by 57 runs (on calculation).

Our third game was against Free State A; we put them in to bat, and they scored a very creditable 291 for seven in their 50 overs, despite fine bowling from Mluleki Nkala and Hilton Masakadza. I always felt their 291 was likely to be a winning score, even on a track that gave no assistance to the bowlers at all. Our fielding let us down that particular day; I counted four catches dropped and two possible run-outs missed. We were all out for 162, and although we had the best opening partnership at that stage, the middle order could not capitalise on it.

FREE STATE A 291/7 (50 overs) (M. Nkala 3/31, H. Masakadza 2/38). ZIMBABWE 162 (41 overs) (C. Brewer 26, C. Coventry 25, M. Nkala 24*). Free State won by 129 runs.

So that left us with no wins in the first three matches, but we played better in the fourth game against Northern Gauteng A. Again the track was flat, but the bowlers bowled well as usual and the batting came much better on this particular day. Zimbabwe batted first and we scored 263 for five in our 50 overs, with Charles Coventry getting 94, and we then bowled Northern Gauteng A out for 207, all our bowlers taking respectable bowling figures in limited-overs cricket. This caused a fair upset in the tournament because Northern Gauteng were saying after our first three results that they were going to walk into the final on the last day, and our win obviously affected our points position.

ZIMBABWE 263/5 (50 overs) (C. Coventry 94, G. Croxford 47*, G. Lamb 41, S. Ervine 26*). NORTHERN GAUTENG A 207 (45 overs) (M. Nkala 3/34, M. Sherren 2/15, G. Ewing 2/33, H. Henderson 2/34). Zimbabwe won by 56 runs.

Our fifth game was against Border, a play-off for ninth and tenth places in the A Section. We were slightly ahead of Border on net run rate, so there was little difference there between the two teams. Overnight and early-morning rain affected the wicket; there were wet patches and we had to wait for them to dry before we could start. So it was reduced to 42 overs; further rain at lunch time reduced it further still to 39 overs, and play was eventually washed out at five o'clock. We reduced Border to 127 for nine, and when rain finally stopped play we were 116 for six, and on a calculation again we won by four wickets.

BORDER 127/9 (39 overs) (G. Ewing 4/26, H. Henderson 2/14, T. Friend 2/23). ZIMBABWE 116/6 (28 overs) (G. Lamb 23, S. Ervine 22*). Zimbabwe won by four wickets.

That night we had the presentation dinner, where the South African Schools XI was announced, together with the SA Colts XI and the SA Under-19 World Cup team, so there was obviously great excitement. It was interesting to see some of the players who had done well against us during the week getting into these teams.

We then played the South African Colts, by now a traditional game, on the last day. Rain early in the morning caused a slightly damp outfield, although the wicket itself seemed to be all right. We won the toss, put them in to bat and the conditions gave assistance to our bowlers. They made a very good start and were 84 for one after 17 overs, a rate of five an over, but they eventually collapsed to 134 all out. Hilton Henderson excelled with five of 33 in his ten overs. This was an excellent performance against the second string of the South African schoolboys side. We passed their score with only three wickets down, taking just 35 overs to do it. Greg Lamb batted particularly well for his 65 not out, so we won by seven wickets.

SOUTH AFRICAN COLTS 134 (32 overs) (H. Henderson 5/33, T. Friend 2/5). ZIMBABWE 137/3 (35 overs) (G. Lamb 68*, T. Friend 24*, A. Maregwede 21). Zimbabwe won by seven wickets.

So we played six games altogether in the Coca-Cola festival, and won three and lost three. But I feel the boys had the ability and just need to convince themselves that they can go out there and get the runs, and the bowlers can do the job as well. The fielding generally was good apart from that one day when four catches were dropped, which is one of those things that happen, I suppose.

Overall I thought the festival was very well organised: transport to the grounds was organised, we had a Kombi which helped us even though sometimes we had to make two trips to get all the players and all the equipment to the grounds. Most of the grounds were close by and the facilities were excellent. All the figures were produced on a daily basis; we got print-outs telling us exactly who had done what, and at the end of four days we were given a complete analysis of the whole team's performance. To me, it was a well organised and thoroughly enjoyable tour.

After our return we had a break until 3 January, when they began training again with our new coach, Paul Strang, who will be the official coach on the World Cup tour. He's been putting the boys through their paces during the last few days, including fielding practices, concentrating on getting them fit again, and obviously working on their bowling and batting. They are mainly net practices; I don't think there are enough players to organise a centre wicket practice, although I think that would have been ideal preparation.

We will be leaving Harare later today (6 January) for Nairobi, from where we go to Mumbai and then to Chennai, and finally to Sri Lanka, arriving there sometime late tomorrow. We have two warm-up games against local sides, all in Colombo, which is quite nice as we don't have to travel outside Colombo during the first week. There is the official opening on 10 January, and then the following day we play the West Indies, whom we beat last time, and I'm sure they would like to avenge that defeat, while we would like to start with a win. After a rest day we play the Americas, and then we play England. At the end of the first round the positions will be decided, and the top two teams will go through to the main event, and the other two to a plate event. We will have to wait until the end of that first week to see where we are and which event we will be in. If we get through to the main event we will be able to stay in Colombo, otherwise we will have to travel. We have tentatively booked to return on 30 January, but that obviously depends how far we get in the tournament, as the hosts would prefer teams to leave as soon as they are knocked out in the final round.

I think the bowlers will be our key players. They will be bowling on different wickets from those they are accustomed to, but our coach Paul Strang has been there before and knows the sort of wickets there will be and how they will play. Although we have a good opening attack I think the spinners will be the ones who will really come into their own: Gavin Ewing and Mike Sherren, a right-arm leg-spinner who bowled exceptionally well on tour without getting rewards. I think the spinners will certainly hold the key. We have two players back from injury: Mike Munson, who never made the Coca-Cola Week because of a thumb injury, and Campbell McMillan who injured his back. They are back in the original squad that was selected for both tours.

The batting I think will depend on people like Nkala, Greg Lamb, who was coming back into good form at the end of the Coca-Cola Week, Travis Friend who I think is a good batsman, and Mike Munson who will provide the stability as an opener which we never really had during the Coca-Cola Week.