Zimbabwe Cricket Online volume 4, issue 21, 7 February 2003
The World Cup is about to start with Zimbabweans still not knowing exactly what is to happen, although from the point of view of cricket in Zimbabwe it is good to see the ICC sticking firmly to its guns and keeping the match against England in
John Ward
07-Feb-2003
The World Cup is about to start with Zimbabweans still not knowing exactly what is to happen, although from the point of view of cricket in Zimbabwe it is good to see the ICC sticking firmly to its guns and keeping the match against England in Zimbabwe. It remains to be seen whether England will withdraw unilaterally; probably not, as a lot of finance is involved!
How nice it would be if the England players had said, "We may not want to play in Harare, but we do want to show our concern for the difficulties the people there are having, so . . ." And then they have a whip-round and perhaps make arrangements to send a large amount of kit to the development programme, or something like that . . . We can die wishing, I suppose. But when you look at declarations like that closely, they are not quite as pure as they might first appear. I suspect public pressure has a lot to do with it. Expediency is not limited to politicians.
Consciences seem to be telling a lot of people to boycott Zimbabwe, but are rather more silent on the question of what positive good can be done instead. As usual those who claim to be our friends seem unconcerned about how their demonstrations of support may hurt us. Certainly if there are any withdrawals, the countries concerned should be required to pay serious compensation to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, whose plans they are ruining.
In this issue we round up the Faithwear One-Day Series, won as might be expected by Mashonaland. There was some good cricket on show, as one-day matches go, and it was very sad that very few in Bulawayo and especially Harare bothered to watch. Mutare and Kwekwe, much smaller centres, drew much larger crowds.
If Harare and Bulawayo are going to host matches like this, they should be marketed much more effectively. Otherwise it would be a great idea for ZCU to run these matches in future as two six-day `cricket weeks', one held in Mutare and one in Kwekwe. The crowd support and atmosphere would be much better, and we would be taking cricket to areas that don't get enough of it.
Another matter for concern is that of player behaviour, and there are increasing calls for ZCU to appoint match referees. There is increasing pressure on umpires, increasing dissent at their decisions, and there was almost a very unpleasant incident after the match between Midlands and Manicaland after the match to follow up an incident on the field. Umpire Duncan Frost deserves great credit as one of the officials who refuses to tolerate this anarchic behaviour, but he regrets the lack of quick, strong action that makes the troublesome players feel secure. There needs to be much more effective support at the time.
We also include an updated biography of Craig Wishart, after his Faithwear century for Midlands, and a full first-class career record, and also a detailed career record for Henry Olonga, who enjoyed success with both bat and ball in the same competition. No club matches were played last weekend, or will be until 8 March, after the home matches in the World Cup.
Now who is to win the World Cup? Obviously Australia are the favourites, although things will be much more difficult for them if either McGrath or Warne experiences fitness problems. South Africa haven't shown quite the same mental strength, and will have the extra pressure of playing at home, but they do have a good side. New Zealand have an efficient team under a very well respected leader in Stephen Fleming, so they are possibilities.
I would find any other winners a major surprise. The Asian teams certainly have the talent, but do not perform their best on the fast, bouncy pitches that they will find in South Africa. True, Pakistan did win in Australia eleven years ago, but their record on their recent South African tour indicates that this team's batsmen find it very difficult.
As for Zimbabwe, we should beat the two minnows, Namibia and Holland, easily, and it is a bonus to be able to open the tournament by playing Namibia, when nerves will be at their highest. But equally it is difficult, on recent form, to see us beating any of the four Test-playing nations that will - or should - be coming here. We can just hope that our guys can play their best and possibly spring a surprise somewhere.