First of all, a word of thanks to those who wrote in to express their appreciation of the Zimbabwe Cricket On-line magazine or who had helpful comments or suggestions to make or questions to ask. And a particular word of thanks to those who sent their messages of appreciation and encouragement to the Zimbabwe team, who go into the Second Test in Harare tomorrow as I write - weather permitting!

A number of people were interviewed during the compilation of this issue, and we would also like to thank them very much for their willingness to contribute in this way; all were very approachable and helpful, although many of them were very busy. Without their co-operation this magazine could not exist in the form it does. And it certainly couldn't without the hard work of Dave Liverman, who is solely responsible at present for putting the entire magazine on to CricInfo.

It was a more encouraging performance by Zimbabwe in the Bulawayo Test, and again the luck did not go Zimbabwe's way. The players do not like complaining about umpiring decisions which go against them - even if they were allowed to - but again television replays seemed to confirm that they were unlucky in a number of instances. Luck, if we can call it that, seems to go in cycles for Zimbabwe. After several World Cup competitions with little of it, they enjoyed plenty of it in England this year, but now seem to find it in very short supply again.

Napoleon is reputed to have said, presumably before Waterloo, that God is always on the side of the big battalions. There are suspicions among Zimbabwean players that umpires perhaps subconsciously tend to be more in awe of stronger opposition and therefore have a tendency to see things from their point of view. They also have the feeling that sometimes local umpires are keen

to get a good report and reputation from visiting teams and therefore tend to see things the same way, although it was the West Indian umpire Nicholls who was involved in most of the doubtful decisions in the Bulawayo Test.

As a former umpire myself I know how difficult it is to be objective when linked with one of the teams playing. Umpires are only human, although possibly some players might dispute that! The slow-motion replay will not go away, so inevitably umpires have their doubtful and sometimes clearly erroneous decisions broadcast far and wide, which cannot help their confidence. Many players are also greatly at fault for exerting pressure on the umpires, often players who are the first to protest if they suffer a bad decision themselves. Inevitably the third umpire must play an increasing role in making decisions, and this I gather is what the players themselves want.

Some bad luck, such as the losing of the toss when conditions militate strongly in favour of the toss-winner, as happened to Zimbabwe three times out of three against the big battalions of Australia and South Africa, cannot be blamed on human fallibility. In these cases more care must be taken to see that the playing conditions are such that there is no great advantage in winning the toss. We will never rid cricket of every element of luck, but we need to try to make sure that skill plays as big a part as possible rather than mere chance.

It has not been very easy compiling this week's issue, mainly due to the unexpected decision to keep the national side in Bulawayo, bonding, until the day before the Second Test, making interviews before then impossible. Some articles have also had to be compiled in some haste, which we hope will not be obvious! This issue has therefore been postponed until Saturday, with a possibility of remaining on that day of the week. It will also be difficult for the next two weeks, with the Tests scheduled to finish on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, although this time the players should be remaining in Harare. So please bear with us. Thanks again for your support.

We are also having teething troubles in obtaining the reports we need from others. The schools and provinces, for example, were first approached more than two weeks ago and invited to contribute; in that time only one of each has responded. We will keep working at it and hope that gradually they will become more supportive. Thanks again to St John's College in Harare and Masvingo Province for their valued contributions.

© ZCU