The Cable and Wireless one-day series has concluded, without the presence of Zimbabwe, eliminated before the finals between West Indies and Pakistan. Zimbabwe took the opportunity to fly home in the case of 6 players, or on to England in the case of the rest of the squad. One lucky world traveller, Andy Blignaut, has continued onto Sri Lanka where he has distinguished himself in the first A Test with a fine 93.

The Zimbabwe Development XI did not distinguish themselves in the ICC Emerging nations tournament that was won by Kenya, but gained much useful experience. Many of the players are now in Sri Lanka with the A team.
[C and W One Day Series | Zimbabwe in England | Zimbabwe A in Sri Lanka]

INTERNATIONAL

Alistair Campbell toured the West Indies with the Zimbabwe team. The final installment from his tour diary reviews the rather disappointing tour.

April 23: Reflections on the tour Well this is my last report and probably time for reflection on the just concluded tour. I suppose as far as the Test matches were concerned it was a case of what could have been. We got ourselves into good positions but failed to convert them into winning ones. We will have to learn how to do this and quickly if we are to do something in England over the next 3 months.

The one day matches were a big disappointment as we are probably a more accomplished one day side than Test side at the moment. We were well short of the standard required and were beaten comprehensively in the 4 games we played.

Apart from the cricket we know needs improving if we are to have a good tour of England, the Carribean tour was an experience of a lifetime, and, somewhere I thought I would never get to go.The beautiful beaches, friendly people, warm hospitality and the passion for Cricket are things that will remain in my memory until the next time, which I hope is not too far away.

As I write this report I am sitting in London's Heathrow Airport awaiting my flight home, which has been a difficulty in itself. British Airways have postponed their regular flight to Harare due to the crisis and have pulled all their staff back to Lusaka, with no guarantee that the flight will go to Harare.I have managed to get back home via Johannesburg all it be for 3 days, as its back to England on Sunday to commence a 3 month tour.
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BIOGRAPHY

Meet the Academy players - Alester Maregwede

Alester Maregwede is a promising product of the ZCU township development scheme who has been earmarked for success for several years as a quality batsman who can also keep wicket. He is now a member of the CFX Academy and has given further evidence of his ability in the 1999/2000 Logan Cup tournament.

"Every time I bat I always think of the great concentration of particular batsmen, particularly like Steve Waugh, both as a batsman and as a captain. He's got all it takes to be a cricketer and that's what I admire about him. Whatever he does, it's something you need to learn from him. I look at Andy Flower as well because he's come to help me, and he's also an example of great concentration in the game of cricket, which is exactly what you need. Looking at those great people really drives me to do as well."
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Meet the Academy players - Travis Friend

'Travis Friend' is an unlikely name for a fast bowler, and in a way Travis is an unlikely person for a fast bowler either. He has the powerful build associated with the tradition of express bowling, but his modest, friendly personality hardly seems to fit in with the intensity and hostility of the likes of Dennis Lillee, Curly Ambrose and others. Yet Henry Olonga has a similar personality, and Travis is now probably the fastest bowler in Zimbabwe after Henry. He is also a top-order batsman, so he has the potential to fill for Zimbabwe a role rather like that of South African Jacques Kallis, who is actually Travis' foremost cricket hero.

"Every game is a highlight because I've really enjoyed every game," he says. "Taking five wickets against Midlands and scoring 38, and also 48 against Matabeleland - it's really a goal to score 50 in the Logan Cup and I was nearly there! I'm quite pleased with my bowling, and just learning in first-class cricket is a real highlight for me."
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Meet the Academy players - Doug Marillier

Doug Marillier is one of Zimbabwe's most determined young cricketers, and he has a clear liking for big scores. His career is all the more remarkable for the fact that he was once so badly injured in a car accident that it was feared he would never be able to play again.

"As a batsman Doug tends to favour the leg side, as did his father, and admits to a tendency to play across the line if he is not careful. At present he is more confident facing pace rather than spin, and prefers one of the first three positions in the batting order; he likes to open in one-day matches, but prefers three in the longer game. He can field in virtually any position, usually taking the slips or covers, but he has a good arm and can also field on the boundary."
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Meet the Academy players - Clement Mahachi

Unaccountably, all Zimbabwe's black players to come through have been right-handers. Until Clement Mahachi, that is. The Bulawayo Academy student is a useful all-rounder who bats and bowls left-handed.

"At the Academy, with a number of all-rounders in the team, he was played mainly as a bowler who could bat, going in at number nine, where in the Logan Cup he became known mainly for playing an adhesive role, sometimes as night-watchman. He admits that he lacked confidence with the bat at first, which perhaps helped to account for a lowly position in the order to start off with. He regularly opened in Bulawayo club cricket, but feels he should aim for about number six in the Academy side. He is at present more fluent on the off side than the leg, and can cut well. He is also predominantly a front-foot player but is working on his back-foot technique. As a bowler the away-swinger is his stock ball, with an occasional inswinger as a surprise weapon. He usually fields in the middle distances, mid-on or mid-off. At the time of the interview he was expecting to spend the 2000 season playing club cricket in England, but was still waiting for his contract to be finalised. "
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