Posted by William (CricInfo) on 17 May 2000
Welcome to the CricInfo Zimbabwe tour forum. Leave your comments on the Test series here.

Posted by Nitin_kakkar on 17 May 2000
Good luck folks. Its time to show your capabilities.Hey What happened to Paul Strang, Have heard of him for so long now.Where are you hiding him?

Posted by Zaheed Mahmood on 18 May 2000
Go get the Britons! Show them where you stand in the world of cricket! Give whatever you have!!

Posted by Daniel Brettig on 18 May 2000
From an Aussie. I'd also like to know wherePaul Strang went and I hope that young Schofield does well any Leggie is great for test cricket. Anyone got an opinion on Graham Thorpe's non selection,surely he's a better player than recyclee Hick!

Posted by Craig Wallace on 18 May 2000
If anybody has tickets that I they want to get rid of for the game ENG vs ZIM on 8 JULY 2000, please mail me on craig.wallace@ssmb.comCheersCraig

Posted by Neal Collins on 18 May 2000
Paul Strang is currently playing for Haslingden in the Lancashire League. Injury led to his exclusion from the current tour squad but he's earning a lot more than the lads who did make the tour, so he shouldn't be too worried!

Posted by Woody. on 18 May 2000
Watching the text commentary on the C4 website and suprised by the 6 wickets. Is the pitch really difficult due to the weather, and ball flying all over the place or are England's bowlers getting it right once again ???

Posted by William Symonds on 18 May 2000
Why is there no streaming Audio from Radio 4. A massive loss for overseas fansWill SymondsJakarta

Posted by Dyfan Powel on 18 May 2000
Whith all this technology available to us the viewers and the third umpire very much an important of the game, shouldn't the umpires on the field of play be able to refer to the third umpire for LBW's and catches behind the wicket? If the Umpires could do this then Caddick would be 4-28 and not 3-28.

Posted by Dyfan Powel on 18 May 2000
In my oppinion England need some help with their batting and not so much withtheir bowling. Why can't they play two strike bowlers/oppening, (Caddick and Gough) and then two good all-rounders like White and Flintoff? Then they don't have a spinner yes?, so play Croft in place of White. Croft is a good off spinner and is a usefull batsman as well as having some good expeerience in test cricket.

Posted by Ian Travis on 18 May 2000
Zimbabwe 70-odd for 6? Are England's bowlers actually doing something right? (no wides or no-balls yet...)It won't last - we've got to bat yet...

Posted by Peter Worth on 18 May 2000
Am I the only person who gets upset when Channel 4 get the cricket rights, televise it very well, and then insist on showing racing !!

Posted by Paul Sutherland on 19 May 2000
I hope and genuinely believe that English cricket is on the up and this summer will be a success, although I also hope that the public do not expect too much too soon of Nassers men. I think between them Nasser and Duncan Fletcher do and will continue to do a great job. I would however like to see the inclusion sooner rather than later of David Sales. I think we should get him in to test cricket asap as there is no doubt, atleast in my mind that he is of true test quality. Keep up the good work all!!

Posted by Ed Green on 19 May 2000
C4 should either show the cricket properly or withdraw from trying to show it at all, yesterday's play didn't even appear to be available on their digital channel (at least it wasn't viewable in my area)

Posted by Andy on 19 May 2000
Re Dyfan's message:
Picking a crowd of average quality "allrounders" like Croft is just the sort of mistake that has cost England dearly for years. You need to play the best you have, not pack the side with County bits and pieces players. Croft can't play high class bowling and bowls too flat and without variation. His test record speaks for itself - good 1 day player only.

Posted by Adrian Plantema on 19 May 2000
All of England, be very chuffed that the powers that be chose the ex-Zimbo, Duncan Fletcehr as coach. In my mind, he is undoubtedly the world's best coach. Technically he is brilliant as he has the ability to fix a fault and not just identify what it is.It is easy to find a fault but not that easy to identify what is causing it and therefore how to fix it. Strategically, he is proactive and ahead of his time when it comes to new innovations and ways of playing the game. For instance, he was the first in South Africa to move his third man finer in one day games as the ball tends to go finer when batsmen are attempting to score without being totally in yet. He is an excellent judge of character and an outstanding man manager. He is very strict,very fair and very consistent in his dealings with people. You'll find that whoever he coaches will have a huge respect for him, a respect that he will earn. I think he will work very well with Nasser Hussain who seems to be the first England captain for a long time who has the skills and diplomacy to take England out of the doldrums.

Above all, Duncan is not a show-off. He will do his talking by way of performance. He is an incredibly humble individual who has earned all the accolades he has ever received.

With those 2 at the helm, I predict that you will see a much more stable selection policy (as long as they are given the freedom to select who they would like without any political interference)with some inspired selections.

Coming from South Africa, I can categorically say that the worst move Ali Bacher made for quite some time, was in failing to ensure that Duncan Fletcher coached South Africa. England, do anything to hold onto him after his current contract expires. And people, keep politics out of it.