Write to: John Ward (jward@cricinfo.com)

Analyze this-

'92 World Cup - v Sri Lanka at New Plymouth - It was a veritable run orgy at Pukekura Park where 626 runs were scored in a LOI. Andy Flower was making his debut. He carried his bat and joined the elite group of players who scored 100 on debut. He shared a 145* partnership for the fifth wicket and such was the impact of his innings that for the first time in the World Cup the Man of the Match award went to a player from the losing side.

Sharjah '00 - v Sri Lanka. This was Andy's second 100 in 150 matches and the fifth-wicket partnership was even bettered - 153* with Viljoen. Flower's 120* was a fascinating innings, a gem, and must rank as one of the finest knocks in Sharjah.

England '01. If I borrow a sentence from Mr. Ward - "Visibly furious with the pusillanimity of his partners" - Flower shared a record seventh-wicket partnership with Skipper Streak and equalled the highest Zimbabwean individual score.

Champions Trophy v India. Absolutely sensational but not inspirational for his mates as Andy remained on field for 98 overs in humid Colombo conditions [ask Gibbs] and played even better, scoring 145.

These are all great hundreds but the elusive victory is still not there. Grant Flower says, "The secret of success is in coping with failures". True but Andy is only improving all the time - 115*, 120*, 142 and 145. It's high time that other players in the squad realize this and give him just enough support so that Zimbabwe wins become more important than his losing hundreds.

So what if reality bites.

Dr. Situ Phalswal (India)

Have been watching the cricket space lately and have noticed some exciting changes in world cricket. In particular has been the form of the Indians, which has been fantastic.

Australia still remain world-class opponents while Sri Lanka on their day are too strong for any sweat. South Africa too are a good bet; so are England and to an extent Pakistan.

But what has prompted me writing you is the lack of urgency that I see in Zimbabwe. They are a side that struggle too much in the game but seem to put too little time into preparations and lack of competitive matches does not make their job easier. I have written to get your opinion on what Zimbabwe really need to do, to put up a good show come February, with their first matches at home.

What chances do Zimbabwe have against their opposition? Do we have enough attacking power to trouble the Aussies and the Indians - real trophy threats on current form? For some time very good fielders, Zimbabwe have lost the touch. What could be reason and possibly solutions to the problem?

Would the Midas touch of Geoff Marsh turn around things for Zimbabwe? What are their chances for the title? Are their preparations good enough? While most of the nations have Tests and ODIs, Zimbabwe only have the Pakistanis next month before the World Cup rolls into town. Is that enough to try all combinations possible?

In fact do we have world-class players who could turn a game on its head like the Aussies and Indians? I often read your match analysis and reports, especially those that you write for our paper, SUNDAY MAIL, and have noticed you could proffer an in-depth analysis on this problem.

What do think Marsh should do and who should be included or dropped in the side? Who should open and is the heavy reliance on Andy Flower's class good. Is the middle okay? If you could attempt these questions, you have made my day.

Hope Chizuzu (Zimbabwe)

Reply: A great many questions, but the answers are harder to find! The current situation in the country cannot fail to affect our players, but I can't go into detail about that.

Lack of quality opposition in the run-up to the World Cup is a major handicap, but at least our players will not be fighting burnout, as some players from other countries may be doing at that stage. As you mention, we only have the visit of Pakistan to try and form a team before the World Cup starts, if we exclude Kenya in December, as they will probably not give our players the testing they need. It really isn't enough, but the other Test-playing countries have such crowded programmes they will not be willing to help us out.

Our improved performances in India at the end of last season I think showed that Geoff Marsh is having a slow but positive effect on our team, but six months without quality cricket was probably a handicap in Sri Lanka. At least now during our domestic season he has the chance to keep the leading players together and work on them. I am sure he knows the best way to do so, and will also be working on getting our fielding back to its best.

I think after a few years of Test cricket some of our top players to an extent lost their vision and thrill of playing at the highest level; only Andy Flower has improved his performances with experience while some of the others have declined. In our early days our players knew that only in fielding could we match other teams in world cricket and so took a particular pride in that department, a pride which has to a certain extent been lost. We urgently need some young players with the same ability and dedication as Andy and Heath, and are hoping that perhaps Hamilton Masakadza and Douglas Hondo might be the men we are looking for. We do have talent, but very few have the mental strength and commitment that Andy has to make the most of it.

Apart from Andy Flower, we do not have the world-class players consistently able to turn games single-handedly. Heath Streak can do so with the bat occasionally, but we need him to do so with the ball, as I'm sure Geoff Marsh realizes. So we need a stronger team effort, with Andy getting major support from other players. To be realistic, it will take close to a miracle to reach the Super Six, with four other Test teams in our group aiming for three places. So I think we need to forget about that, take it a match at a time, enjoy the game and just possibly we might surprise.

I think Alistair Campbell must continue to open the batting; his best performances are at the top of the order. Dion Ebrahim has not done well against top bowling in one-day internationals but his recent domestic form has been good, so perhaps the experience will bear fruit shortly. Guy Whittall has been disappointing, but he has vast experience and hopefully will come good soon. He lost his place for much of last season, but the problem is with whom to replace him?

Craig Evans has been batting so superbly that even at the age of 33 I feel he should have his chance against Pakistan in the one-day matches. Apart from that, I think we can do no better than select the form players and hope they justify their selections. In the bowling we need more accuracy, and I hope Pommie Mbangwa's inclusion would help there, and perhaps Gary Brent, although his early-season form has been disappointing.

I was looking at the Logan cup teams and could not find Hondo on any of the teams. Is he still playing in Australia or there is another reason for his absence?

Hilario Chinondo (Austria)

Reply: He had a strained shoulder, but hopes to be fit to play for Mashonaland this coming weekend.

Secondly I would like to congratulate Craig Evans for his recent high scoring. He is obviously in peak form and hopefully the selectors will reward him with a test call up in the upcoming series against Pakistan, who it must be said on current form could even by upset by Zimbabwe.

Sibusiso Nkomani (Belgium)

Reply: Unfortunately the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has decided not to do any live coverage of the Logan Cup, as they do not feel there is enough interest to warrant the expense.