Zimbabwe Cricket Online volume 4, issue 16, 3 January 2003

Happy New Year to all our readers. We have a lull in cricket over the holiday period, with no fixtures scheduled for the last two weekends, but the Vigne Cup starts again this coming Sunday.

This means that we begin the year with a small issue of ZCO, mainly to do with catching up on biographies and statistics. Regular visitors to our site will also have noted the selection of the Zimbabwe World Cup 15.

CONTENTS

• World Cup team and report
• Updated biographies: John Rennie and Stuart Carlisle
• First-class career record: Heath Streak
• Letters

Finally I write as South Africa appear on the verge of winning their home series against Pakistan, which will enable them to overtake Australia on top of the ICC World Test Championship table. This is despite Australia's two convincing series victories over them last season, which has naturally led to widespread criticism of the system.

The problem is simply that the championship was instituted before all the teams had played all the others. South Africa has been credited with home and away series victories against Zimbabwe and a home against Bangladesh, while Australia has not yet played qualifying series against either of these countries.

However Australia have only themselves to blame. If they had not refused to tour Zimbabwe last season, for flimsy `security' reasons, they would almost certainly have given themselves a series victory that would have kept them on top. They will no doubt have contemptuous words for the table if or when they are forced to hand over to the trophy to the team they beat very convincingly last season, and it will be a rather hollow championship for South Africa, who can however claim they have a better record in Asia. But in effect Australia shot themselves in the foot as far as this championship is concerned, and they will have to wait for another day to regain their position. Perhaps until Zimbabwe tour there early next season - if politics does not rear its ugly head again.

In South Africa we are now seeing the other side of Pakistan. Rampant in Zimbabwe, they seem to be lacking fighting spirit in South Africa. Their batting faltered first of all on the faster, bouncier pitches, with their two openers Saleem Elahi and Taufeeq Umar, and middle-order giants Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana unable to reproduce their form against the stronger bowling attack, except for the second one-day international. Now they have lost their fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar to injury, and the bowling seems to have lost heart as well.

Zimbabwe cannot match Pakistan for raw talent, but I do think we put up a better fight when our backs were against the wall. Whatever problems we may encounter on the field, and we certainly will during the World Cup and later on when we play Tests in Australia for the first time, we can retain the respect of the opposition and the public by putting our heart into our game and fighting tooth and nail to the bitter end.