We underperformed: Heath Streak

Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe captain, is no doubt a frustrated man. He has the responsibility of carrying a team not only decimated by the turmoil in their own country, but also deprived by the selectors of several of the senior players.

However, instead of complaining about all that, he sticks to the positives - not that there are many for Zimbabwe. "There were a couple of individual performances I thought were pretty promising," he said. "I thought Dion Ebrahim played well during the series. He looks to have worked on his game in the Test arena, so hopefully he can take that into the one-day version of the game."

"We had some good bowling from myself and Raymond Price, who I thought was superb. On pitches not taking a great deal of spin he managed to create pressure, and we're hoping he can do the same for us in the one-dayers."

He continued: "Travis Friend batted superbly in the second Test match. Tatenda Taibu looked good although he didn't quite convert those starts into big scores. But he's learning fast. He's in good form, his technique is good and I'm hoping he'll come on and play a major role in the one-day series."

There is no shortage of potential in the Zimbabwe team, especially in the form of allrounders Friend, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut and Mluleki Nkala, although Nkala is still struggling to recover from an injury. There is raw talent, and if these players stay on course, Zimbabwe should improve on their status in international cricket in three or four years' time.

"We didn't shape up as we should have, especially with the bat," Streak admitted. "There was a lot of disappointment in terms of guys getting in, making starts and failing to convert them into big scores. We had a golden opportunity at Lord's, bowling first on a pitch that had a lot in it for the bowlers. We were a touch unlucky in terms of beating the bat, but I think the English players showed their experience on those sort of pitches, and our techniques were found wanting. We missed a couple of chances, which cost us."

The bowling did show an improvement at The Riverside, ironically when the conditions were less helpful. "The guys tried to knuckle down and our plan was more to put the pressure on rather than bowl wicket-taking deliveries, a trap that a lot of young guys fall into. Rodney Hogg, our bowling coach, spent time between the Tests getting the guys to bowl to a simple formula and build pressure. And when we managed to string some dot balls together following that plan, we managed to force England into some out-of-character shots. Test cricket is a game of patience and that's what our guys had to learn."

Overall, Streak felt that England have not seen the best of the Zimbabwe team. "I think we underachieved in terms of our capabilities," he said. "Batting was always going to be tough in early-summer conditions, but our bowling until the first Test had been pretty good. We had managed to create pressure and Dougie Hondo bowled superbly, but we didn't do enough of that throughout the Tests. At The Riverside we showed that when we bowled to our plan we were a lot more competitive. If we had held our catches we could have had them back in the pavilion for 250. I think we're better than the performances we produced in the Tests."

Streak is not the most insightful of speakers, but he was willing to talk about his views of the England players who he played against in the Tests.

"Michael Vaughan didn't really perform against us, but his class speaks for itself," he said. "Marcus Trescothick has worked hard. He has quite a basic technique, but he's obviously worked on it and it works for him. I felt we could bowl to him if we got the ball in the right areas, but if you bowl any bad balls he's very good at putting them away. He always tries to reverse the pressure. Having a leftand right-hand combination at the top of the order where both are attacking players is good for England."

"The middle order was good, and I think Mark Butcher is a great Test player. Robert Key looks to be a positive player who gets on with it and is quite busy. I was impressed with Alec Stewart and Anthony McGrath. I think Stewart's record speaks for itself. McGrath looked to be a very solid player and I think he's going to go a long way. You would hope they give the guy a good run and let him settle in the side."

"But I think the acid test for that line-up is how they perform against South Africa, which will be tougher in terms of the bowling they have to face. But I think they have a pretty good recipe for Test cricket. Nasser Hussain didn't do much against us, but he's a good Test player and led the side well again."

And what about the England bowlers, who caused Zimbabwe so much trouble? "I was very impressed with them, especially James Anderson. He bowled with really good pace and swings the ball away, which is always a good asset. He's a good guy to captain, because he'll bowl all day for you and he bowls good channels. When he bowled well he was probably the toughest of the bowlers to face. I think he's a great find and the bowler who will go furthest for them."

"Steve Harmison hits the deck and bowls it at a good pace, and the others were all pretty tidy. To have someone like Richard Johnson coming in to play his first Test with so much experience behind him is also an advantage. Ashley Giles is tidy, and he can hold up an end and build that pressure we were talking about. They had guys like Butcher and McGrath who were fill-in bowlers, but came in and did a reasonable job with the assistance of conditions that are probably better suited to medium-pacers who can swing the ball around."

Were there any players who England could have selected, but didn't, that the Zimbabweans were pleased to see left out of the side? "Andy Flintoff was injured, but he's a great allrounder for England. His batting and bowling form of late has been superb, so it was probably good not to have him there. Graham Thorpe is another player who, especially at Test level, is a superb player."

Now Zimbabwe look forward to the NatWest Series ahead, and Streak is acutely aware of how green his side is. "We'll be looking for combinations again. I think it will be a really tough series for us, but hopefully the guys can settle in a bit better with one-day cricket. We have players who are better adapted to the one-day game and it will be easier for them. I think we're capable of springing a few surprises if some of the guys realize their potential and, of course, if the senior players lead from the front."