This is the last issue of ZCO for 2002. We plan our next issue for 3 January, and extend our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all our readers.

CONTENTS

• Zimbabwe v Kenya, 3rd ODI - Scorecard | Report

• Club cricket:
  • P.G. Timbers Vigne Cup, Round 4
  • P.G. Timbers Vigne Cup, Rounds 6 and 7

  • Round 5 appeared in our last issue. We apologize for the continued absence of Round 3 and the fact that Rounds 6 and 7 are incomplete, but we are still waiting for the scoresheets from the Mashonaland Cricket Association.
• Interview: Kevan Barbour
• Zimbabwe's World Cup 15 Preview
• 10 years on: Zimbabwe v New Zealand, Second Test, 1992/93
• Alistair Campbell first-class Career statistics
• Visit the CFX Academy website
• Letters

As I write the news has just come through that the ICC has confirmed Zimbabwe as the venue for their six first-round matches in the World Cup, thus confirming their claim that their judgement would be based on safety rather than political grounds. Their statement said that they found no good reason to change the venue in terms of security, but they will, of course, be monitoring the situation regularly.

Kenya must have been disappointed with their tour of Zimbabwe, especially the last match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Their strong batting line-up never really fulfilled its potential, although Zimbabwe's bowling was not particularly demanding by international standards. In none of the three one-day internationals was Kenya able to exert any real pressure on Zimbabwe, although when Steve Tikolo and Maurice Odumbe were together in Bulawayo it looked for a while as if they might compile a really competitive total. But a run-out changed everything, and the batting collapsed to give Zimbabwe a relatively easy victory.

In this issue we interview Kevan Barbour, who has been appointed to the ICC panel of umpires for the World Cup. He praises the Kenyan players and administrators for their attitude both on and off the field, an attitude that should be copied by players of more illustrious teams worldwide. The Kenyans have always been popular opponents for Zimbabwe, and not just because we can beat them. They have always been friendly, courteous and true to the traditions of the game.

Unfortunately, this tour again showed the huge gap between Kenya and the Test-playing countries, apart from Bangladesh. If Zimbabwe, who are struggling against the eight senior Test-playing countries at the moment, can beat them so convincingly, how can anybody say Kenya is ready for Test status? What if they were to play Pakistan, who gave us such a hiding on our own soil and then lost four-one to South Africa?

No doubt I will cop a lot of flak from certain people for saying so, but in my view Test cricket is degraded if it is not a true test, a true contest, between two teams in a competitive match. If the result is a foregone conclusion and the weaker team is unable to exert any pressure on the stronger, then Test cricket is devalued - and by this measure even Zimbabwe only just qualifies these days. We have played too many one-sided matches during the past year, and when South Africa hammered us for 600 runs for just three wickets last year it made Zimbabwe's Test status seem a joke. Only the fighting spirit of the great Andy Flower saved us from one of the greatest humiliations of all time.

Bangladesh occasionally have a brief flurry but in the end lose every Test match easily, except for the one against Zimbabwe where the last two days were lost to rain. The ICC should several years ago have started a major programme of home and away tours for both Bangladesh and Kenya with A teams from other countries to prepare them for Test cricket. Had they done so, right now Bangladesh would have been a lot more competitive than they are and would have been spared all their present humiliations.

Some believe that after this World Cup Kenya will be awarded Test status, and I would have been all for it, had they been prepared properly. But valuable time has been lost, and it will at best be three or four years before Kenya can be competitive in Test cricket, whatever is done. If Kenya do earn Test status next year, I would be only too happy to be proven wrong, but with the sorry saga of Bangladesh before us, still unable to compete after 16 Test matches, I cannot see Kenya doing much better.

Both teams deserve better than to be flung in at the deep end without first being taught how to swim. I am not saying keep Kenya out of Test cricket; I am saying that the ICC should pull out all the stops to prepare Kenya adequately for Test cricket so they will not embarrass themselves when they make the step upward.

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