Heath Streak: the South African tour

Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak talks to John Ward about the South African tour, which was always going to be difficult but was particularly disappointing in that Zimbabwe lacked self-belief and failed to make the tourists fight for victory. He also gives his views on the top South African players.

I think it's difficult when a side of the quality of South Africa takes a grip on a situation and gets into positions of strength like they did. They are certainly up there as one of the two top sides in the world, and with some of the injuries we've had a bit of inexperience in the bowling.

They certainly have some fantastic players, especially at the top of their batting order, in Kirsten, Gibbs and Kallis. They're formidable players and they certainly got hold of a very lack-lustre attack. So it was quite difficult for the guys to come back and try to be competitive.

Our batting wasn't too bad; their bowling was very professional and their fielding was outstanding. It made it difficult for us to be competitive, and in the last two one-dayers the wickets made it hard for our batsmen against the quality of their bowling.

When you have struggled in games like we did, obviously lack of self-belief becomes a factor. Certainly towards the end I would say this was a problem, especially with some of the bowlers. It's hard to pick yourself up when you've been bowling at the same players and they have been so dominating throughout the series. There haven't been too many guys bowling well at the moment, which hasn't made selection easy.

It's a hard one, but we have a new series starting now against England, and I think the guys have got to pick themselves up. England is not as strong a unit as South Africa, and if we can strike in the early games and get some of that confidence back, we can get back on track.

I think the South African side is getting stronger all the time, but if you compare them to the Australian side I still don't think their all-round strength is quite as good. I think the Australians are the best, but I believe they will have very good games against Australia when they meet this season. That will be interesting, and much will depend on the pitches they play on.

Shaun Pollock is very lucky to have the all-round capabilities of guys like Klusener, Kallis and himself in the side; it gives them a lot of depth in their batting and extra bowling options. At the top of the order they have Kirsten who is a highly experienced and consistent performer for them, and Herschelle Gibbs, who is a very talented batsman and fielder and who has been in a rich vein of form in the last year.

ZIMBABWE'S PROBLEMS

It's been difficult to keep all the guys in form for this series, especially our back-up players, because there haven't been any A-team games or any club or first-class cricket to keep the guys playing continuously. I think match practice is a major factor in our ability to cope well in match conditions, whether it's at club or first-class level. It always builds your confidence when you come into matches, even at international level where the standard is a lot higher, and perform.

Our bowling has struggled against South Africa. There have been a lot of changes in the side and Carl Rackemann can't run around the whole country coaching everyone. He has to strategize and think about how we are going to play the game collectively. He is concerned about the batsmen as well as the bowlers, and if he was here just in his role as a bowling coach I'm sure he would be able to spend a little bit more time with some of the bowlers, but it's difficult for him to do that.

We've had good preparations for this tour and we haven't really stopped playing for quite a while now, except for a couple of weeks or a few days here and there. We had a lot more preparation than South Africa did, but with a side like that, when you're not in form they do dominate more, and it's harder for us to come back than if we were playing a less high-quality side like Bangladesh.

Psychologically they probably got the better of us, but at the end of the day we've got to be able to have the manpower to counteract that. If you look at their bowling attack they have four out-and-out quicks playing for them and a pretty consistent left-arm spinner who was able to sustain pressure for them.

Then you have a batting attack with a guy like Boucher coming in down the order who has a few centuries to his name. It's a pretty useful line-up and it preys on your mind: you get one guy out and the next guy who walks in all the time is pretty useful. But if we had got it right collectively I think we could have been highly competitive.

Andy Flower was obviously fantastic in the Test series, and I think in the one-day series our bowling let us down. I think we were undisciplined in our attack and they have some high-quality players who dominated. This is accentuated when you're bowling badly and they put away bad balls, and when you bowl the odd good ball that also goes to the boundary it makes it even harder for the bowlers.

PERSONAL FORM

I don't think I bowled as well as I have done in the past, and obviously my performances have a lot of bearing on how the team plays, as with a batsman like Andy, and Alistair [Campbell] as well. It's been difficult with the team collectively struggling for me to focus enough on my own bowling performances. It's something I probably have to give a bit more time and thought to, as to how I can make my performances more consistent.

I realize that my commitments as captain are also integral to how the team plays, and it's also a matter of finding a balance and making sure I can lead as captain as well as bowler.

I think it would be nice next year when we have a bit of a break if the guys can rest and come back hopefully rejuvenated. We have a busy schedule and it's part of professional cricket; we have to be looking at ways to improve and be consistent, and I think if we're not attempting to do that we're not being as professional as we should be.

IMPROVING PLAYERS

Obviously Hamilton [Masakadza] in the Test series continued on what he did against West Indies. Andy [Flower] was obviously fantastic and it was great for him to play as well as he did.

Gary Brent has come on in the one-dayers and shaped up really well. There have been other smaller performances of note: Alistair [Campbell] has been pretty consistent with the bat.

SELECTION

[Heath and the coach are not on the selection panel for the new season.]

It's not a problem at the moment, but I gave some advice that I felt would help the new selection panel. I certainly don't believe that I should be on the selection panel and I just hope that the new panel can function properly in the way it should do. Obviously Geoff [Marsh] will be chatting to them and I hope what he wants to do will be reflected in their policies, and they can take it through to the World Cup in 2003.

TEAM RELATIONSHIPS

[In the past South African teams have remained aloof and been unwilling to mix with the Zimbabweans off the field.]

I think it has changed this tour; some of the South African guys came and visited our farm and we got on pretty well with them. There has been a lot more mixing than in the past. We have a lot in common with many of them, and there was some good camaraderie. Maybe if the games had been a bit more competitive it might have been a different story.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYERS

Gary Kirsten: highly professional and consistent. Very hard to bowl at; he knows his game. He has a strong defence but when you give him any width he goes for it and he works well off his legs. I know he's a big thinker on the game of cricket, and some of the guys who spoke to him said he has a wealth of knowledge, with the amount of cricket he has played. I'm sure one day he'll make an excellent coach.

Herschelle Gibbs: extremely talented. He's quite quiet, but he has a fantastic eye for the ball and he's an amazing fielder, an excellent guy to have in your team.

Jacques Kallis: it's fantastic for South Africa to have an all-rounder of his stature. He's just a very solid cricket player; very strong, hits straight, play the ball with respect but puts away the bad balls. Batting at three and able to open the bowling is testimony to his ability.

You have guys like Neil McKenzie, who I think is a good prospect; Boeta Dippenaar - a lovely guy - both of them very down-to-earth, and I have a lot of respect for their cricketing ability, and they both field well.

Lance Klusener: very competitive on the field and I think a lot of people see him differently from off the field, where he's a lovely guy - very quiet, actually, but very confident on the field. Another guy who's good to have in the side because of his array of attacking ability and he's also a versatile bowler who can bowl quick seam or medium-pace off-cutters on wickets that suit it.

Mark Boucher: a fantastic keeper and a batsman who can make hundreds.

Shaun Pollock: he speaks for himself, with his cricketing ability. Also a very nice guy and I found him very friendly; I didn't have any difficulty in chatting with him.

Makhaya Ntini, Claude Henderson, Andre Nel: I didn't get to chat to them very much but they all seem nice guys; Ntini seems quite a bubbly, lively type of character.