• The batsmen who are most successful in Zimbabwe tend to be those who can put their own pace on the ball – clean hitters who can take advantage of the shorter boundaries, like Graeme Hick, England's most productive batsman in Zimbabwe. Andy Flintoff take note. Averages in ODIs in Zimbabwe: 1 Aravinda de Silva 239.00; 2 Ricky Ponting 185.00; 3 Mark Waugh 160.00; 4 Roshan Mahanama 133.50; 5 Craig McMillan 127.00; 10 Hick 90.00. • The shorter boundaries at Harare and Bulawayo should be a key consideration. In ODIs in Zimbabwe, England have hit 147 fours and 18 sixes, which means that 10.91% of their boundaries have been sixes. By contrast, in ODIs v Zimbabwe elsewhere the figure is 252 fours and 16 sixes (6.35%), which shows the importance of having players who can take the aerial route.

• Among the bowlers, there's a marked disparity of experience between the teams at one-day level. The entire England squad have only 16 ODI wickets between them – Flintoff seven, Silverwood three, Trescothick, Hollioake and Thorpe two each. Grant Flower alone has over four times as many.

• Of the top 20 bowlers in ODIs in Zimbabwe, only Gough and maybe Streak and White could be described as genuinely fast. The lifeless pitches tend to reward military-medium bowlers such as McMillan, Cronje and even Nathan Astle. Where is Mark Ealham when you need him? Or Hick for that matter? Most successful bowlers in ODIs in Zimbabwe (qualification 5 wickets) 1 Hick 6.60; 2 Damien Fleming 7.83; 3 Hansie Cronje 10.00; 4 Upul Chandana 15.29; 5 Craig White 16.30; 7 Craig McMillan 17.20.

• In 48 ODIs since January 1, 2000 Guy Whittall has taken only ten wickets at 78.40 – but he has 4 for 58 in ODIs against England in Zimbabwe. He is precisely the sort of innocuous medium-pacer that England have struggled against in recent years – remember Ajay Jadeja taking 3 for 3 in Sharjah in 1998-99?

• Some of Zimbabwe's batsmen do markedly better in ODIs at home than when they're on the road. The best example is Craig Wishart, who averages 18.64 runs an innings better at home – 35.14 to 16.50. Then there's Alistair Campbell, 9.79 better (38.83 at home, 29.04 away); Guy Whittall 28.26 v 21.97 (+6.29); Stuart Carlisle 31.06 v 25.10 (+5.96); Heath Streak 27.38 v 22.77 (+4.61); and Grant Flower 35.08 v 33.63 (+1.45). An exception to this rule is Andy Flower – 32.08 v 33.98.

• England's players haven't really played enough in Zimbabwe to make valid comparisons, but for what it's worth Nasser Hussain averages 12.40 from six innings in Zim, compared to 28.71 elsewhere, and Nick Knight manages only 10.00 (39.70 overall). Graham Thorpe (39.60 overall) scored 1 in his only previous ODI innings in Zimbabwe.

• In ODIs that England have won, Hussain averages 56.85 (mostly when captain), while Thorpe's importance in steadying the middle order is underlined by his average of 56.33 in ODI victories. The likely opening pair have done well when on the winning side too: Knight 40.95 and Trescothick 32.60.

• But English batsmen still find one-day hundreds elusive. Knight has three, but two were in his first three matches and he hasn't managed one in his last 43 games. Actually, England might not want too many centuries: they've lost four of the last five ODIs in which one of their batsmen has reached three figures.

Part One
Saturday, September 29, 2001

• Nasser Hussain has won only two of his last 18 tosses in international cricket – but if he does call correctly in Zimbabwe, he should bowl first. On the slow, low Zimbabwean surfaces it is difficult to know what a good score is, making it much easier to chase than set a target.

• In only three of the last 16 ODIs at Harare have captains elected to bat first, and each time they have had their fingers burned. And in ODIs at Bulawayo, the team batting second are historically twice as likely to win as the team batting first.

• Zimbabwe have never successfully defended a total of less than 200 in an ODI at home. Thirteen of their last 19 ODI defeats at home have come when they have batted first.

• If England do bat first, they should not throw wickets away trying to run before they can walk. Though the recent onslaughts of Herschelle Gibbs and friends may suggest otherwise, big scores do not predominate in ODIs in Zimbabwe. The average first-innings score at Harare is just 230, and in 46 ODIs on home soil Zimbabwe have only twice chased over 200 to win. A score of 220-240 will usually be enough.

• Failing to bat out your full allocation of overs is said to be one-day cricket's biggest crime, and England have been bang to rights in six of the last 10 ODIs in which they have batted first, a pitiful performance. Similarly in the six ODIs between the sides in Zimbabwe, the team batting first have failed to use up their allocation half the time.

• He may be keeping up with the Bradmans in the Test arena but Andy Flower is not the main man in Zimbabwe's one-day team. That accolade belongs to Alistair Campbell, who since rediscovering his form in England in 2000 has been one of the world's most productive one-day batsmen. The leaders since since Sept 1, 2000 are: Sanath Jayasuriya 1337 at 41.78; Campbell 1321 at 44.03; Sachin Tendulkar 1199 at 57.10; Sourav Ganguly 1150 at 42.59; Mahela Jayawardene 1095 at 39.11. England's highest is Marcus Trescothick, whose 450 runs rank him a modest 39th.

• Campbell is usually central to Zimbabwe's victories at home. He averages 79.89 in them, compared to Grant Flower's 49.22, Andy Flower's 43.17, Stuart Carlisle's 34.50, and Guy Whittall's 24.67.

• Australia have done it four times in their last seven matches; Sri Lanka did it in their last match; India and South Africa did it two games ago; even Zimbabwe have done it in the past year. But England haven't done it for 56 matches. What is it? Scoring 90 or more in the first 15 overs. The last time England managed that was in May 1998, when Ally Brown and Nick Knight flayed South Africa around Headingley.

• Between them the England squad have 260 one-day caps. Andy Flower alone has almost as many. A possible England XI would have 244 caps to their name, whereas the Zimbabwe team that lost the first ODI to South Africa at Bulawayo had almost four times as many. Possible England XI Knight (60), Trescothick (21), Hussain (48), Thorpe (68), Shah (5), Flintoff (23), Hollioake (13), Snape (0), Foster (0), Silverwood (6), Kirtley (0), Total 244. Zimbabwe Campbell (165), Ebrahim (8), Masakadza (1), A Flower (173), Wishart (53), Flower (159), Whittall (135), P Strang (92), Streak (129), Nkala (23), Friend (17), Total 955.

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