Zimbabwe Cricket Online volume 4, issue 20, 31 January 2003
The so-called Zimbabwe A team, which turned out to be almost the full national side and only included players in the World Cup squad, recovered to beat a more genuine South Africa A team, winning the last two matches of the series last weekend in
John Ward
01-Feb-2003
The so-called Zimbabwe A team, which turned out to be almost the full national side and only included players in the World Cup squad, recovered to beat a more genuine South Africa A team, winning the last two matches of the series last weekend in Harare.
The South African A team, captained by Graeme Smith, had probably been expecting to play a similar side from Zimbabwe, perhaps strengthened by three or four World Cup players. Certainly their mood in the deciding match at Harare Sports Club on Sunday was not very pleasant. The ICC Code of Conduct was blatantly ignored as certain players made their dissent at certain umpiring decisions very clear, with Alan Dawson reportedly the leading culprit. Fortunately umpire Duncan Frost handled the situation very firmly and well, or there might have been some very unpleasant incidents.
Later in the week the Faithwear One-Day Series between the provinces continued in Bulawayo and Kwekwe. Local support at Bulawayo was even worse than in Harare. At the match between Mashonaland and Manicaland at Queens Sports Club on Wednesday, I counted a maximum of 13 genuine spectators at one time during the afternoon. Meanwhile at Kwekwe they had 500, with a sponsored braaivleis (barbecue) afterwards.
ZCU should consider taking these matches away from Harare and Bulawayo, and next season playing them in Kwekwe and Mutare instead, where the provincial unions are energetic and capable of marketing the game effectively and the local population is still appreciative of inter-provincial cricket. It may be more difficult logistically, but a six-day cricket week at each of these centres will be far better supported than at Harare or Bulawayo. We must take the game to the supporters - and there are obviously precious few for inter-provincial cricket in the two main centres.
Congratulations to Manicaland for finally ending Mashonaland's seven-year run without defeat. Even with several leading players loaned out to the other provinces this season, Mashonaland have still turned in the best results; before Wednesday they had won all three one-day matches against other provinces and also sit on top of the Logan Cup table with two victories and a draw against Midlands. Their strength is partly psychological: they expect to win, and the other provinces have become conditioned to losing. Now Manicaland have finally broken their undefeated run of official matches stretching back seven years, perhaps the other provinces will realize that they can do it too. A more even competition will be all the better for Zimbabwe cricket.
In this issue we also pay tribute to Eddo Brandes, who has now emigrated to Australia. We include an updated biography and a detailed summary of his first-class career.