Zimbabwe look for good news at ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup

Zimbabwe's youngsters will be looking to put on a smile on the face of their supporters at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup (ICC U/19 CWC) in Sri Lanka.

The country's withdrawal from Test cricket earlier this month was the latest chapter in a depressing sequence of events over the past few years but now Sean Williams' side has a chance to show Zimbabwe's future in the game can still be a positive story.

That could, of course, be easier said than done. Zimbabwe's form coming into this tournament has not exactly been outstanding as they lost all five of their matches in November's Afro-Asian U/19 Cup in India by wide margins.

But they still have an outstanding chance to progress to the Super League stage in Sri Lanka as they have been placed in Group D which includes not only 2004 semi-finalists England but also two Associate countries, Ireland and Nepal.

Zimbabwe have one of the most experienced squads in the tournament. Seven of their players have played at first-class level and three of those - Williams, leg-spinner Graeme Cremer and all-rounder Justice Chomunorwa (also known as Justice Chibhabha) - have also played senior international matches.

Cremer and Williams are the two Zimbabwe players in this squad who took part in the previous ICC U/19 CWC in Bangladesh two years ago and if they and their current team-mates are looking for inspiration then they need look no future than that tournament.

The 2004 squad reached the Super League after a stunning seven-wicket win over Australia as Tinashe Panyangara wrecked one of the pre-tournament favourites with a breathtaking burst of 6-31, the second best bowling performance in the tournament's history.

So can Zimbabwe do it again? Well, if they are going to achieve a top-two placing in their group then they will have to bat better than they did in the Afro-Asian U/19 Cup.

In five matches they consistently lost top-order wickets early on, their highest total was 173 (in their opening match against South Africa) and they had only two individual half-centuries in the tournament.

With batting like that the bowlers found it impossible to dig the side out of trouble and in the first three matches they were hammered by South Africa (eight wickets) and by Pakistan and Bangladesh (nine wickets on both occasions).

However, the positive that Zimbabwe will take from their trip to India was that they rallied in the second half of the tournament and performed at their best against the two sides that eventually contested the final.

Bowling first in their last two matches they restricted tournament winners India to 249-8 and then bowled out Sri Lanka for 220, but even then the batsmen could not take advantage of the chance they had to win and two more defeats, by 94 runs and 55 runs respectively, followed.

So runs are the key for Zimbabwe to be competitive and the captain Williams and opener Donald Samundera are two players who will be expected to make their fair share.

Samundera was one of the bright lights amid Zimbabwe's batting troubles in India with 74 in the tournament opener against South Africa and also 31 out of 118 against Pakistan.

Williams, meanwhile, will be looking to lead from the front and fulfil his undoubted potential. That potential has seen him play four ODIs but he is yet to score a first-class hundred.

Other batsmen Zimbabwe will be looking to include Friday Kasteni, a left-hander with can also keep wicket, Prince Masavure and Chomunorwa, who disappointed during the Afro-Asian U/19 Cup.

The side are, however, without wicketkeeper-batsman Tafadzwa Mufambisi, who opened in India and impressed when he scored 57 against the hosts. He has been omitted from the squad, reportedly for disciplinary reasons.

The bowling attack is likely to be led by Ian Nicolson and Glen Querl with seaming support from Keagan Meth and Taurai Muzarabani (also known as Taurai Tapfumaneyi) while Williams appears to have plenty of spin-bowling options.

The captain can turn to himself to bowl some slow-left arm (although he suffered back trouble before Christmas), opener Samundera can bowl off-spin, Ryan Higgins is a leg-spinning all-rounder and Cremer has played six Test matches as a specialist leg-spinner.

If those bowlers have decent totals to defend then they have an excellent chance of ensuring Zimbabwe's progress to the Super League which, after all the internal strife within the game in that country, will certainly be something to cheer about.

The Zimbabwe squad is: Sean Williams (captain), Gary Balance, Ronald Benade, Justice Chomunorwa, Graeme Cremer, Ryan Higgins, Friday Kasteni, Tarisai Mahlunge, Prince Masvaure, Keagan Meth, Taurai Muzarabani, Ian Nicolson, Donald Samunderu and Glen Querl.

Manager - Dilip Chouhan, Coach - Walter Chawaguta, Physiotherapist - Amato Machikicho.

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2006 will take place between February 5 and 19. 16 teams are scheduled to play 44 matches in 15 days at five different venues in Colombo.