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ZIMBABWE CRICKET ONLINE
Editor: John Ward
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Issue 6, December 24 1999
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Editorial
By John Ward
Welcome to the 6th issue of Zimbabwe cricket's weekly on-line
magazine. First of all there will be no issue of Zimbabwe Cricket Online
next Friday, 31 December, but we will be back on 7 January as
cricket prepares to start up again after a break of almost three
weeks.
In this issue:-
- Interviews with Stuart Carlisle, Ravi Shastri and Murray Goodwin.
- Development and schools news and a preview of
the South Africa tournament.
- Updates on the age group teams in South Africa and UCB Bowl squads
This week the editor looks back on a difficult 10 weeks for the national team, and the crowds (or lack of them)
at the international matches.
"It might well be worth considering, when England are here in
February, making the mid-week matches in Bulawayo and Harare
dirt-cheap for adults and free for children. Mid-week matches do
not draw such large crowds anyway, and many who will only be able
to attend for a short period of time, during the lunch hour or
for the last period of play, will decide not to if the entrance
charge is too high."
[More]
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NEWS
Zimbabwe tour of England 2000: the venue of the four-day match
between Gloucestershire and Zimbabwe from 16 to 19 June has been
changed from Bristol to Gloucester. This will form part of the
Gloucester festival, the dates of which have been changed from
May due to the awkward timing of a Benson and Hedges cup match.
The Zimbabwe team is due to leave from Bulawayo for South Africa
on 17 January. After the Christmas and New Year break they will
travel to Bulawayo on 13 January for a training camp, staying on
Denis Streak's farm, for a few days before their departure for
the triangular tournament which also includes England.
For those who remember the 1965/66 season, the CricInfo archives
now contain full scorecards and newspaper reports of all six
Currie Cup matches played by Rhodesia (as it then was). How did
Colin Bland, Tony Pithey, Godfrey Lawrence, Joe Partridge, Jackie
du Preez and others fare during that season, against such great
players as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Mike Procter, Eddie
Barlow, Ali Bacher and others?
[Scorecards and Reports]
Interested in a weekly quiz question about Zimbabwe cricket?
Let's have a try and see how many of our readers are interested.
No prizes, I'm afraid, although the first few correct replies will get honourable mention.
QUESTION: Against which country did Zimbabwe play its first-ever Test match in the 1992/93 season?
Answers to John Ward, please!
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INTERNATIONAL
The last two Zimbabwe-Sri Lanka one-day internationals in retrospect
John Ward
The fifth one-day international against Sri Lanka was one
Zimbabwe had to win. They had already lost three successive
matches to Sri Lanka, and another would have completely destroyed
their credibility with the public in Zimbabwe, who had become
disillusioned with the succession of defeats and disappointing
performances from players who have done far better in the past.
[More |
Scorecards]
The South African Triangular Tournament - preview
John Ward
Andy Flower has been persuaded to stay on as captain after his
fine performances against Sri Lanka. It is an indication of the
increasing depth of cricket in Zimbabwe that few players can have
their selection for the squad queried, but there are several
notable omissions. No place was found for Andy Blignaut, Eddo
Brandes, Trevor Gripper, Trevor Madondo, David Mutendera, Mluleki
Nkala (now finished his A-levels) and Paul Strang (still unfit).
Heath Streak is included in the squad, but his selection for the
final party will depend on his fitness at the time. It is
believed that disciplinary reasons are at least partly
responsible for the omissions of Blignaut and Madondo.
[More |
Tournament and squad]
INTERVIEWS
The Player's View: Stuart Carlisle on the fourth One-Day International
Stuart Carlisle talks to John Ward about his magnificent undefeated 121 in the
fourth one-day international.
"Yes, it's always hard coming in when you've made a nought
the previous innings, to bounce back like that, but I knew it was
a good opportunity batting at number three. I also knew it was
going to be hard because I've been playing B cricket in the last two
months, and the results haven't been in the paper, so the public
generally have no idea what's been going on. They were probably
asking questions like, 'Why is this guy back in the side again?'
but in all modesty I felt I deserved it, so I was really happy to
get a big hundred."
[More |
Scorecard]
No need to panic, says Ravi Shastri
Former Indian all-rounder and current television commentator Ravi
Shastri believes there is no need for panic in the Zimbabwean
ranks, despite the recent poor performances of their team. He
talks to John Ward about the Sri Lankan tour.
"But having said all this, I do believe after hearing people
talking, that there's no need to panic. There's absolutely no
need to panic, as long as you're prepared to learn - and you can
just hope that your main players come back soon. Zimbabwe have
played quality sides in Australia and South Africa; Sri Lanka is
an upcoming, talented side. There's nothing like going through a
period when nothing goes right for you because at the end of the
day you know you can't do worse than that. I do believe the
learning curve starts here for Zimbabwe. If you don't know how
to accept defeat, you'll never know how to win."
[More]
The player's view: Murray Goodwin on the fifth one-day international
Zimbabwe gained a consolation victory in the final one-day
international against Sri Lanka, and Murray Goodwin played a
major part in seeing them home after a minor crisis in the middle
order. Here he talks to John Ward about that match.
"They are a brilliant fielding side and the public don't realise
how good they are, how quick they are, and it was good to end on
a high note, because we've had a lot of bad publicity. We could
have beaten them in this series if we had played well for both
halves of the game and played to our full potential as we did
yesterday."
[More |
Scorecard]
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Zimbabwe Age-Group tours to South Africa in December
While the senior Zimbabwe cricket team were battling to find form
and consistency in the recently concluded series against Sri
Lanka, there was encouraging news at the junior level as the
three Zimbabwe age-group teams made their annual trek to take
part in their respective tournaments. Peter Whalley reports.
[More]
Your letters
In this edition:
comments on the Goodwin dismissal, TV commentary and mmore
[Your letters |
Contact us.]
DOMESTIC CRICKET
Zimbabwe Board XI maintain 100% one-day record
The Zimbabwe Board XI has maintained its 100% record in one-day
matches in the UCBSA Bowl competition with its victory over
Border B last weekend. Captain Gus Mackay reports.
"The team has played good one-day cricket throughout the season,
and been fortunate in batting first each time. They have worked
out their batting and bowling policies well, and owe more to
teamwork than individual performances. If the top order has
failed, the middle order has invariably come through to pull the
team out of trouble."
[More]
School Cricket
St John's College tour to South Africa
At the end of November St. John's College embarked on a 10-day
cricket tour of Cape Town. The side selected consisted only of
players in Lower 6, Form 4 and Form 3, in a sense the College
First XI for 2000 except for Andrew Stone who was on a family
holiday in Australia. The side faced formidable opposition in
taking on three of the strongest Cape Town schools in Bishops,
SACS, Wynberg and a Claremont cricket club Invitation XI, while
the tour ended in Somerset West with a game against Somerset
College. Peter Whalley reports ..
[More]
The Mashonaland Knockout Competitions
During the late sixties and early seventies the name given to
this exercise was somewhat misleading in that participation was
restricted to urban schools, but 1972 saw the admission of the
first rural contender and Lilfordia reached the final, which they
lost to Highlands. After this, presumably because the erstwhile
organiser was transferred elsewhere, the competition lapsed.
Iain Campbell reviews the history.
[More]
Lilfordia Cricket 1999
A review by former head, Iain Campbell.
"Which said, it remains, with Bryden Country School, quite
significantly the smallest of the reputable cricketing
establishments (with a total of only about 100 boys across all
seven grades) but continues to feature prominently because
although many of its numerically superior rivals have long since
caught up in terms of technical proficiency, the aura of
Lilfordian predominance lingers on in the minds of both the home
players and those of the opposition."
[More]
Zimbabwe cricket development: Chinamora Gala and a
report from Manicaland
Karigai Motsi writes
"A successful cricket gala was held in Chinamora. Twenty-two
schools attended but only eight took part because of the shortage
of playing areas. We had planned for the gala to take place at
two venues but the teachers could not secure the use of the
showgrounds."
Joel Muzeya reports from Manicaland
"There has been a lot of activity in the schools
despite the Grade 7 exams. The junior league is being played on
a weekly basis. The schools have shown a lot of commitment
towards these games. The children have enjoyed the live
televised games, thanks to the ZCU. There has been a much
greater improvement in the cricketers this year than in the
previous year."
[More]
Picture of the Week
A Zimbabwe fan shelters from the rain, World Cup 1999
(photo copyright AFP)
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