The Zimbabwe Board XI, aiming for a place in South Africa's premier competitions next year, moved closer to their goal with victories over North West B in both the three-day and the one-day matches in the UCBSA Bowl competition last weekend. John Ward spoke to coach Trevor Penney about his team's successes, achieved at Harare South Country Club.

Three-day match:

ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 290/9 dec (M A Vermeulen 137, D D Ebrahim 47, C N Evans 29; C T Enslin 2/58, G M Hewitt 4/41) and 99/4 dec (M A Vermeulen 29, C B Wishart 36*; M Holms 2/41, J Wolmerans 2/31).

NORTH WEST B 153 (G M Hewitt 39, C T Enslin 48; D T Mutendera 2/15, E Z Matambanadzo 2/34, R W Price 16.3-10-12-5) and 158 (G M Hewitt 50; R W Price 25-10-46-7, C N Evans 2/34).

Zimbabwe Board XI won by 78 runs.

This was the first match the Board XI had played for two months, so they had plenty of time to prepare for it. After the New Year Trevor Penney had his squad out training regularly, determined to make no mistakes in their bid to win both competitions. "We were lucky this year that it didn't rain for three weeks in January," Trevor said. "So we had really good practice. In league cricket all the batsmen were getting runs and the bowlers were doing well, so we went into the game very confident. North West are the weakest side in this competition; they're bottom of both logs.

There were quite a few changes to the team since they last played. Once again there was a new captain: Gavin Rennie, Dirk Viljoen and Gus Mackay had all held the reins earlier in the season and they were all, in stages, called up to join the national side touring overseas. This time the new captain was a player who had had to return early. "Paul Strang is very experienced and very conscientious," Trevor said. "He tries to make the youngsters do the right things and he's very good in that way."

Hamilton Masakadza made his debut for the Board XI, coming in to replace the out-of-form Trevor Gripper – although Gripper did respond by scoring a good seventy for his club the same weekend. Masakadza had scored two centuries for the national Under-19 team in the Coca-Cola Week in South Africa. Greg Lamb was also omitted to give a chance to left-arm spinner Ian Engelbrecht. Andy Blignaut also returned to the side for the one-day game only: "I don't think he's had enough bowling yet to show that he can bowl long spells in three-day games," said Trevor.

The Board XI won the toss and decided to bat. "It was a nice flat pitch and looked as if it was going to spin later on," said Trevor. "But we only got about ten overs in on the first day; I think we were about 35 for one. Then it rained – torrential! The pitch got a little wet, but both sides agreed we just had to play. Luckily the wet patches weren't in play." Although most of the players from both teams are professionals nowadays, they have an excellent attitude, unlike some of their seniors, and `would rather play and lose than not play'.

The Board XI innings was built on a superb century partnership between Mark Vermeulen and Dion Ebrahim. "Mark Vermeulen played very well," according to Trevor. "He hit perhaps 80 per cent boundaries on a slow pitch, so it was a fantastic 137, which was the reason why we got a big score. Dion Ebrahim got a 47, but he struggled for the first hour. It was one of those days where it doesn't go for you, but he stuck in and they put on a lovely partnership."

There are peculiar regulations governing the first innings of teams in the Bowl competition: a declaration is compulsory after 100 overs, although bonus points are available for only the first 85, and the second new ball can be taken after 80. The Board XI were under pressure after losing almost all the first day to rain, "so after about 55 overs we decided we were going to have a bash," explained Trevor. "That was why we lost all those wickets after being about 220 for three and cruising. We missed the fifth batting point by ten runs, but we declared straight away at 85 overs and put North West in.

"Dave Mutendera really started off well," said Trevor. "He could have had a `five-fer' easily: he beat the bat, he got bounce on a slow pitch – the best I've seen him bowl for a long time. It was a fantastic spell. Everton [Matambanadzo] and Douggie Hondo were steady and backed him up well; Paul Strang bowled quite a few overs but was the unlucky one. He bowled decently but on a better day he could have got a five-fer. But Pricey came on and bowled exceptionally well. He's pushing hard for a Test place and got a five-fer there."

Zimbabwe just missed the chance of enforcing the follow-on, as North West, needing 141, totalled 153. "We decided we would have 20 overs batting and see how many runs we could get," said Trevor. "We got 99 for four. Wish [Craig Wishart] played a gem of an innings, 36 at a run a ball. We left them a relatively easy target of 237 to win in about 67 overs, so we dangled the carrot. If we had got 270 they would just have blocked, and it would have been hard to get them out.

"Pricey came to the party again and took seven for 46 in 25 overs. He opened the bowling; we know now, after four or five years of B cricket, whenever the ball is turning big, we seem to beat the South Africans. When we play on green pitches, they tend to compete more. Craig Evans took some useful wickets, and Dave Mutendera bowled really well again. It was fantastic catching and fielding again. Craig Wishart took tow or three catches in the match and was outstanding at slip. About five minutes after we had bowled them out the heavens opened, so we were very lucky."

An outsider looking at the scoresheet might think that, with the outstanding performances of Mark Vermeulen and Ray Price, it might have been a very even match and the home side might well have lost without them. Trevor feels that this is deceptive, though. "If it was a proper four-day game, we would probably have ended up with 400 for five or something," he said. "But you only get bonus points to 85, which is a bad rule; you should get bonus points to 100, then we could just play three-day cricket until 90, maybe, and then have a bit of a bash. Our later batsmen got out going for it, many caught on the boundary, playing for the team. So it's not a true reflection on the team."

Trevor is most optimistic about his team's chances of winning their section and playing off against the leading team in the other section, which looks like being Western Province in both three-day and one-day games. "Border have a game in hand, but they have to win very well to compete with us, so when we go there in three weeks' time I think a draw will be sufficient. But we'll go to win it, obviously."

One-day match:

ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 185 (43 overs) (H Masakadza 66, P A Strang 21*).

NORTH WEST B 145 (44.4 overs) (G M Hewitt 22, C T Enslin 33, J Kgamadi 24; D T Mutendera 3/32, P A Strang 3/28).

Zimbabwe Board XI won by 40 runs.

Again the Board XI won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch which looked as though it might deteriorate as the match went on, according to Trevor. "Hamilton Masakadza got 66 in the end," he said. "The first half of his innings was a bit like Dion's in the three-day game; he really battled, and I think after 15 overs we only had about 32 runs, so we were struggling. As so often happens, we tried to `up it' a bit and lost three wickets quickly.

"Craig Evans then joined Hamilton and they put on a nice partnership of about 50 or 60. We were cruising at one stage with about 110 for three, heading for 210 or 220, which would have been a very good score on there. But we kept losing wickets at the wrong times. Paul Strang played well, and he ran out of partners, so we did not bat well. But 185 was at least something to bowl at, because we knew they had two first-team batsmen in Hewitt and Enslin.

"They bat at four and five, so we wanted to knock over the early guys and get them in quickly. They ended up batting together after about 10 overs. Pricey came on and bowled really well again, very tight at a crucial stage. Dave Mutendera bowled well again, and Paul came on with about 15 overs to go, and he wrapped it up. They all bowled well; it was the best bowling and fielding display I've seen from them. I told them that normally after a bad start, a bad first half to the game, it never gets better. But they really worked hard, and the catching and bowling was tremendous." It sounded a bit like Zimbabwe's only victory over the West Indies in Australia, where they also bowled the opposition out after a bad batting display.

"Once we got their two main guys out and had five wickets down, victory was almost a cert," said Trevor. "But it was tight. They were about 100 for three or four, and you never knew which way the game was going to go."

Of the North West players, Trevor emphasizes how their strength is very dependent on their two main players, all-rounders Glen Hewitt and Tinus Enslin. He was quite impressed with their opening bowlers Holms and Wolmerans; "they have two or three good seamers and a couple of leggies. I would have definitely been disappointed if we had lost that one-day game because we were much, much stronger."

The Board XI have now won all five of their one-day games, and Trevor thinks it is good enough as it stands to get them through to the one-day final on 10 March. "As long as we don't commit suicide in our last game, against Border, we should be in the three-day final as well," said Trevor. "It would be nice to win both of those – we get home draws here, make the pitches we want, nice turning pitches like I said, as they don't fancy spinners much."

The home draw will be in favour of the team which earns the most points in its particular league and it will be a close call with the dominant Western Province B side.

Trevor finished with a couple of suggestions about the Bowl competition. "Maybe next season they should think of playing a one-day tournament with all the teams together over a week or two," he said. "Then play four-day cricket, proper cricket, no declarations. This isn't teaching them anything really, because after 60 overs you've got to go for bonus points. That's not three-day cricket." Nowadays most of the players involved, even at this level, are professionals or semi-professionals, so time off work should be less of a problem than in the past. But by then the Board XI will hope that they are out of it and competing at the top level.

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