Streak urges an end to the player exodus

Heath Streak, Zimbabwe's captain, has called on his country's authorities to end the player exodus which has seen the side decimated in recent months. Although Zimbabwe were not humiliated in the Test series against Australia, it was apparent that the squad was down to its bare bones.

Since the World Cup earlier this year, Zimbabwe have lost Andy Flower, Henry Olonga, Alistair Campbell and Guy Whittall, who have all retired - and others are believed to be considering their futures against the backdrop of increasing civil disintegration inside Zimbabwe.

"It's important for world cricket that we don't fall too far behind the top Test-playing nations, and it's good for the game that we can come out and fight," Streak told reporters after the Sydney Test. "I think if we hadn't lost as many quality players, who knows how far we could have taken Australia."

But Streak was keen to try to draw positives from the two matches. "We'll learn from this experience," he argued. "I think we'll be very competitive against some of the lesser teams. You always look at the positives and try and build on it, and there were a lot of positives from this series for us."

Steve Waugh agreed that Zimbabwe needed help, suggesting that the ICC regulations should be relaxed to allow players like Graeme Hick to return to bolster the side.