Tour of benefit to Zimbabwe despite defeats

St. John's - Zimbabwe's inaugural tour to the Caribbean has been of tremendous benefit in spite of a succession of defeats.

Captain Andy Flower made the assessment following their fifth consecutive lost on tour and their third on the trot in the triangular limited-overs series at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Wednesday.

'I think the tour has been extremely valuable to the learning curve of our side,' Flower said after Zimbabwe suffered a five-wicket defeat by Pakistan.

'We've got a young side. I'm the oldest by quite a distance and I'm only 31. I think it will be an extremely valuable tour for our guys.'

The experience of battling a four-prong pace attack of Curtly Ambrose, Mervyn Dillon, Reon King and Franklyn Rose was quite a challenge, Flower said.

'We have played against some high-quality quick bowling. We've spent quite a lot of time in the middle in first innings of both Test matches against some of the best bowlers in the world. That will stand us in good stead in the future.'

The team will gain even more experience on their forthcoming inaugural tour to England that will stretch for three months.