No interest in amateurish Zimbabwe
Even with the return of Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe are struggling to compete at ODI level
Tawanda Jonas
23-Aug-2007
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But gone are the days when fans used to gleefully watch real men
pulling fours and sixes off venerated pace bowlers and offspinners.
Zimbabwe's national cricket team has been reduced to a bunch of
amateurish school-boy cricketers and suddenly all the interest and
zeal which accompanies the visit of a powerhouse such as South Africa
has died down.
Cries for Kevin Curran's dismissal as national coach have developed
into howls. His critics maintain he has been ineffective since taking
over from Phil Simmons as he has presided over Zimbabwe's continued
descent into the abyss of international cricket.
Curran knows, by now, that the nation's confidence in him has hit rock
bottom; that it is time to salvage his battered pride by snatching a
respectable result out of the series against South Africa.
He knows that the nation is now fed up of his perennial excuse that
the team is still on a learning curve. Curran said this when losing
his first Test in charge against India in August 2005. He repeated
himself after another comprehensive Test loss to New Zealand the
following month. And when drawing 2-2 against lowly Kenya, Curran had
already proved himself as the devil rather than the messiah for
Zimbabwe cricket.
Only last week Curran, the former Zimbabwe international, was still
singing from the same hymn sheet. "The encouraging thing is that we
have managed to come through and in the last four days of the matches,
and in the shorter version of the game, the idea is to bat through our
overs... and hope to translate the 100s into 200s and then maybe 300
runs.
"There were some positives that came through against India A and the
South Africans in that Tatenda Taibu, played admirably well on his
return to international cricket after a two-year absence. We hope to
continue improving- and who knows, we could pull a surprise or two in
South Africa when we go there for the Twenty20 tournament," Curran
said following another comprehensive defeat by a visiting South Africa
A side.
His view of the national game, although sounding like that of an
amateur coach, has become a reflection of how the once-revered
international has lost confidence in himself as national team coach
and in the team he leads. Charles Mhlauri's stubbornness would have
done better to drum up the fans' support and faith in the team.
Yet, with all odds staked against Zimbabwe, the team might just be
inspired to do well against the Proteas in the remaining two, if only
to boost morale and confidence ahead of next month's Twenty20
championships.
Curran's batting line-up seems better coordinated since the return of
Vusimuzi Sibanda from Australia and the maturity that has been
exhibited by Christopher Mpofu over the past few years. But Zimbabwe's prospects of upstaging South Africa are far-fetched despite Taibu's satisfactory performances against South Africa A.
Taibu is a bit subdued and his response is measured. "Anything can
happen in a cricket match," he said. "Hopefully, my being around again
for Zimbabwe can add value to the team."