Taibu 'unhappy' with Zimbabwe performances

Tatenda Taibu: ' I am not happy with the way things have been going' © AFP

Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe's captain, has admitted that his side are finding the going tough in the face of a string of heavy defeats.

Since the end of the strike by rebel players in the spring, Zimbabwe have lost all six Tests they have played - five by an innings and one by ten wickets, with two finishing inside two days. They have also lost all five ODIs played. The nadir came against New Zealand at Harare Sports Club when Zimbabwe became the second side to be bowled out twice in a day in a Test. The on-field performances have been widely lambasted with increasing calls for the ICC to intervene.

Taibu, whose own form has understandably dipped in the face of constant hammerings, said that despite the results, there had been some progress. "But collectively we have not improved," he told the Harare-based Herald newspaper, "and I am not happy with the way things have been going.

"The improvement has been in bits and pieces and most disappointing is the fact that it has been the young players who have been doing well while the seniors have not been doing well. If both the young players and the seniors had been playing well then we would have fared far much better.

"In the last series against India there was a vast improvement in our bowling especially considering that a number of bowlers like Douglas Hondo and Tinashe Panyangara were injured. For instance, if you look at our performance on the second day of the final Test, we managed to take nine wickets for 175 and that was a good achievement. However, I was not impressed with the fielding. Zimbabwe have been known to be one of the best teams in terms of fielding but we were just not up to it and it has been up and down.

"Also, our batting still troubles me and there was not even a single batsman to reach a century in the eight innings against India and New Zealand. Something has to be done. Now that we have seen our shortcomings, it's up to the guys to look at how to play. I hope that the guys who will be going to India will learn how to deal with left-arm seamers, left-arm spinners and swing bowling in general."

Taibu revealed that he had held long discussions with India's Rahul Dravid and had learned much from him. "He [Dravid] felt that our problem is worsened by the fact that we only have one left-arm seamer playing in Logan Cup [Allan Mwayenga] who however, gets the ball to move away from the batsman. When New Zealand came guys were lacking confidence in the ability to deal with balls coming back at them but instead of learning fast, it is a weakness that stayed with us even for the India series. We did not adapt quickly and that is a worry."

Taibu is also rumoured to be increasingly at odds with Zimbabwe Cricket. Sources close to the team say that he was not even informed by the board when Phil Simmons was sacked as coach, only finding out from the media. When he complained, he was told in no uncertain terms that it was not his concern.

That unease is said to be mirrored across the team, with several sources agreeing that the side is not a happy unit. That was highlighted by the recent press release issued on behalf of the players which slammed the conduct of the board and its treatment of the country's cricketers.