Zimbabwe Cricket Online - editorial

Our apologies for a shorter issue of our online magazine this week, but Zimbabwe's self-inflicted fuel crisis has made it impossible for me to get around and interview players, although some interviews were possible at the Logan Cup match in Harare last weekend. Probably, too, next week's issue will be even shorter until the situation eases, whenever that may be.

We are painfully aware that our magazine is not able to touch certain areas of cricket in Zimbabwe, for various reasons. First of all, we cannot carry any extra information about the national side's tour of the West Indies as we have nobody there to send us back any reports; we regret that readers keen to learn about that tour will have to look elsewhere in CricInfo. Similarly we do not even have a report on the Logan Cup match played in Kwekwe last weekend, which resulted in an innings victory for Manicaland over Midlands, as nothing has yet come in from our correspondents in either province. On the positive side, we do have some very informative school cricket reports from Peterhouse (Marondera) and Victoria High (Masvingo), and thank the cricket masters there who took the trouble to send us the necessary information.

The news of the week from the West Indies, of course, is the resignation of Brian Lara as captain, followed by his refusal even to play for his team for the time being. West Indian cricket is in turmoil, but it may not necessarily be good news for Zimbabwe, although our bowlers will no doubt feel relieved. It could be, as has happened in the past, when teams have been dominated by one player, that when that player leaves the others may feel refreshed by coming out of his shade and better able to play their own games. Jimmy Adams has good reports as captain, and he will be known to coach Dave Houghton at least, as he twice visited Zimbabwe with Young West Indian teams in the eighties - the first time as a bearded schoolboy who also kept wicket, and the second as an upstanding, dominant-looking batsman who seemed destined for greater things, and who also bowled off-spin! His recent batting form has not been good, but his past record shows he has the class to come good again.

Predictions are difficult to make for the Test series, except that if Zimbabwe are able to play their best, there should be two outstanding matches. The West Indies may be weaker than they were five years ago, but they are not all that much weaker. Lack of discipline and low morale, according to reports, have led to their playing well below the ability they do have. They began the series against New Zealand recently with an opening stand of 276. That is a clear indication of what they are capable of doing. But perhaps over-confidence set in, and they collapsed like a pack of cards and kept doing so until the end of that disastrous tour. The point is that that opening partnership, rather than the rest of the tour, is a reflection of their true capabilities. If they are able to find their confidence against Zimbabwe, we are in for a rough time. But similarly, if Zimbabwe are to find the form they showed in Pakistan just over a year ago, they may be able to match them blow by blow.

My perhaps safe prediction is that the series will be won by the team that plays closest to its potential. West Indies, I think we must confess, still have the greater potential, but both teams have played at only a fraction of their true potential for most of the past season. Both are unpredictable, the West Indies even more so than Zimbabwe. Anything can happen - and maybe it will!