West Indies batsmen may struggle in Zimbabwe

One of the few Barbadians who have experienced conditions in Zimbabwe expects some West Indian batsmen to struggle on the forthcoming tour of the African nation.

Tony King, manager of the West Indies B team which toured Zimbabwe in 1986, is even surprised that regional authorities agreed to visit Zimbabwe at this time of the year.

This is the winter in Zimbabwe and it can get very cold in that part of the world, he told WEEKENDSPORT.

I know that conditions usually favour swing bowlers quite heavily in their summer, so I expect that some of the batting problems our young players have are going to be exposed.

Additionally, the Harare Sports Club and the Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo, venues for the West Indies' two Tests during their Zimbabwe trip, are located in high altitudes.

According to OnlineWeather.com, the average maximum temperature in Harare and Bulawayo during June and July was 21 degrees Celsius, while the average minimum temperature was seven degrees Celsius.

Conditions do take some time to get used to and quite frankly, I think it is going to take quite a bit of adjustment, King said.

I expect the general temperatures to be a little cooler than our guys are accustomed to playing in. I don't like to prejudge situations too much, but I suspect some people are going to struggle a bit, added the former Barbados batsman.

King's team toured Zimbabwe during the summer months of October and November, when he said pitches were bouncy and behaved like Australian surfaces.

West Indies coach Roger Harper, who spent a few days in Zimbabwe two weeks ago, is more upbeat than King.

Once you apply yourself, we can do well, he said.

It is winter in Zimbabwe, but it is nowhere near as cold a winter as you would experience in Europe.During the day, it was very pleasant in the mid-20s, but early in the mornings and late in the afternoons it tends to be a lot cooler.

His information also suggested that the pitches tend to have a lot more grass than players in the Caribbean were accustomed to. But he added that a glance at the Test scores in Zimbabwe suggested batsmen did well.

Mike Worrell, another Barbadian who kept wicket for the West Indies B on their visit in 1983, believes Carl Hooper's side would make the adjustment.

Most of them have played in England and should be able to cope, Worrell said.

I don't thing is it going to a winter where it is going to be snowing, but it maybe a few pegs down in degrees.