ZIMBABWE FIRST-CLASS CRICKET IN 1993/94

John Ward

INTERNATIONAL RECORD

     Test cricket:
v Pakistan (Away):       Played 3, Won 0, Lost 2, Drawn 1

     One-day international cricket:
Hero Cup (India):        Played 4, Won 0, Lost 2, Tied 1, Drawn 1
v Pakistan (Away):       Played 3, Won 0, Lost 3
     Total:              Played 7, Won 0, Lost 5, Tied 1, Drawn 1

Only three Tests could be arranged all season, all away from home. Zimbabwe were deeply indebted to Pakistan for a three-match series, but found it frustrating that they were denied desperately needed regular opportunities to play at the top level. It was one thing to be granted Test status, but quite another to be given the opportunity to play regular Test cricket. Even the Pakistan series only came about at short notice when a tour to India was cancelled.

The only other international cricket possible this season was a visit to India for the Hero Cup, a one-day competition also involving South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka besides the home country. The match against South Africa was almost completely washed out, and there were two comprehensive defeats by Sri Lanka and the West Indies. But the team came very close to pulling off a shock victory in the match against India, which was eventually tied. The Zimbabwean team in fact thought they might well have won, since in the critical final stages of the game a hit by John Rennie was signalled as a four by the umpire when many even in the home crowd believed it had cleared the boundary for a six. In their next match, though, Zimbabwe were bundled out for 99 by a depleted West Indies attack and emerged with little credit.

The tour to Pakistan was anticipated with a mixture of excitement and dread. Apart from a brief visit to India at the end of the previous season, this was Zimbabwe's first major tour overseas and Pakistan were known to have an extremely strong team; in particular their pace bowling attack of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis was feared the world over. There was apprehension that in particular the inexperienced Zimbabwean batsmen would be unable to cope with such bowling in alien conditions.

This was all the more so because many of Zimbabwe's top players who had played in various World Cup competitions and carried the country into Test cricket were absent. Andy Pycroft had retired, while Kevin Arnott, John Traicos, Andy Waller and Ali Shah were all unavailable due to pressure of business. Six players were to make their debut in the First Test at Karachi. Zimbabwean cricket was in the process of becoming professional, but the change could only come gradually and the absences from this tour simply emphasised the need for a full quota of professional players.

The bowling of Wasim and Waqar (the latter taking 27 wickets in the three matches) did indeed have a profound effect on the series and caused some serious batting collapses in all three Tests. But amid the disasters were some batting performances of real skill and courage. The most spectacular were Alistair Campbell's innings of 63 (off 55 balls) and 75 in the Second Test at Rawalpindi. Mark Dekker, in his second Test match and opening the batting, also had a good match double of 68 and 68 not out, becoming the first batsman in the country's first-class history to carry his bat through a completed innings.

Sadly, neither was to reach such heights again. Campbell, by his own admission, for some years thereafter felt obliged to play this kind of swashbuckling innings every time he went to the crease and so frequently lost his wicket to poor shot selection, maintaining a Test career average of no more than 30. Dekker, who found regular practice difficult due to his work on the family farm, lost form and confidence, and faded out of top cricket. The new captain Andy Flower played some good but less spectacular innings which confirmed the fine start to his Test career the previous season.

The quality of Zimbabwe's bowling surprised all, though. The left-arm seamer David Brain, omitted from the First Test, took 12 wickets in the next two and bowled superbly, in tandem with the experienced Eddo Brandes. Backing them up was the 19-year-old Heath Streak, and the persistence and accuracy of these three caused frustration to the Pakistani batsmen, who were doubtless expecting an easier ride. In fact, no batsman on either side reached a century during the series. The ability of the Zimbabwean bowlers to restrain Pakistan's prodigiously talented batting line-up was the crucial factor in keeping Zimbabwe competitive, and the Pakistani victory margin of 2-0 was less one-sided than it appears.

In all three Tests Zimbabwe were in at one stage with a good chance of victory, although in the First it was only due to an enterprising declaration by acting captain Waqar Younis, who backed a bowling attack without his injured partner Wasim against Zimbabwe's ability to score 266 for victory.

In the Rawalpindi Test Zimbabwe actually took a narrow first-innings lead and needed only 240 to win after bowling Pakistan out twice. They were 135 for one at one stage, but after the dismissal of Campbell the batting collapsed completely.

In the Final Test Zimbabwe turned in their best performance yet. Fine bowling by Brain played the major part in bowling Pakistan out for 147, and Zimbabwe fought with determination to take a lead of 83. But fog and bad light cost them more than eight hours' playing time and they never had the opportunity to put Pakistan under pressure in the second innings.

They did less well in the one-day internationals, losing all three by convincing margins. But, as Andy Flower said. “We have discovered that we can now stand the pressure of a three-Test tour.” Zimbabwe emerged from the cauldron with great credit, only to be forced to wait ten months before their next opportunity to play international cricket.

On the positive side, this season saw the introduction of domestic first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, as the Logan Cup was played over three days and upgraded. Four provincial teams took part: Mashonaland, Mashonaland Under-24, Mashonaland Country Districts and Matabeleland. The identities of the teams reflected the difficult situation in the country whereby the main playing strength was concentrated in and around Harare.

Surprisingly, it was the two least-fancied teams, Mashonaland Under-24 (an enthusiastic team under the captaincy of Grant Flower) and Matabeleland that contested the final, which was won by the former in a war of attrition. The Mashonaland team probably lacked stimulation as many of them had been playing international cricket, while the Districts team were often well short of full strength, as the cricket season for the farmers is during the Zimbabwean winter and a number of top players lacked the time or the will to play.

A new development was the admission of the Zimbabwe Board XI to the United Cricket Board of South Africa Bowl competition. This gave many younger players invaluable experience, although the lack of depth in Zimbabwean cricket was evident, especially in the bowling department, although the spinners found little help from South African pitches.

The team was undefeated, but gained only one victory in the five-match programme, emphasising the difficulty found in bowling out the opposition. Part of this was due to what was then a regular Zimbabwean weakness of allowing the opposition off the hook by permitting a tail-end recover after breaking through the early batting, largely a result no doubt of too much limited-overs cricket where bowling out the opposition is not a prime requirement. This may well have cost them victory against Orange Free State B and Natal B, while the victory over Northern Transvaal B would have been attained much more easily were it not for a rally by their tail.

The domestic season was given additional flavour, in the absence of any visits from Test-playing countries, by brief tours from Western Province at the start, and Warwickshire and Worcestershire at the end.

Wayne James, the Matabeleland captain and wicket-keeper, also found time to score 620 runs during the season at an average of 68.88; this included an innings of 215 for his province against Mashonaland Country Districts, only the seventh first-class double-century to be scored in Zimbabwe and the second by a Zimbabwean at home. Grant Flower scored 534 at 48.54, Glen Bruk-Jackson 496 at 45.09 and Danie Erasmus 441 at 25.94. Also scoring more than 300 runs were Andy Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Gavin Rennie, Gary Martin and Craig Wishart.

Malcolm Jarvis, 37-year-old stalwart of the Zimbabwe Board XI, took the most wickets, 33 at an average of 22.81. He was followed by John Rennie (23 at 28.30) and Paul Strang (21 at 36.90).

The Zimbabwe Cricket Academy got under way at Harare Sports Club; although at this stage it was unable for financial reasons to take on any young players full-time, coaching facilities were available, and proceeds from the Pakistan tour helped to expand the development programme in the black townships.

On the administrative side, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union established a professional secretariat, also at Harare Sports Club, with former national wicket-keeper and umpire Don Arnott as its first chief executive.

HERO CUP IN INDIA (One-day internationals)

At Patna; 15 November. SRI LANKA 263/6 (P A De Silva 68, A Ranatunga 59, R J Ratnayake 32*). ZIMBABWE 208 (A D R Campbell 37, A C Waller 55, G J Whittall 36; S T Jayasuriya 4/19). Sri Lanka won by 55 runs.

At Indore; 18 November. INDIA 248/5 (M Prabhakar 91, V G Kambli 55, M Azharuddin 54*; S G Peall 3/54). ZIMBABWE 248 (A Flower 56, A C Waller 32, G J Whittall 33, O H Omarshah 37; J Srinath 3/44). Match tied.

At Hyderabad; 21 November. WEST INDIES 233/9 (D L Haynes 75, R I C Holder 50). ZIMBABWE 99 (P V Simmons 3/23). West Indies won by 134 runs.

TOUR OF PAKISTAN

(1ST TEST) At Karachi; 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 December. PAKISTAN 423/8 dec (Aamer Sohail 63, Shoaib Mohammad 81, Javed Miandad 70, Basit Ali 36, Rashid Latif 68*; E A Brandes 3/106) and 131/3 dec (Inzamam-ul-Haq 57*). ZIMBABWE 289 (A D R Campbell 53, D L Houghton 46, A Flower 63, G J Whittall 33, G K Bruk-Jackson 31; Waqar Younis 7/91) and 134 (Waqar Younis 6/44). Pakistan won by 131 runs.

(2ND TEST) At Rawalpindi; 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 December. PAKISTAN 245 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 38, Asif Mujtaba 54, Rashid Latif 33; E A Brandes 3/82, D H Brain 4/41, D H Streak 3/58) and 248 (Basit Ali 40, Asif Mujtaba 51, Rashid Latif 61; E A Brandes 3/71, H H Streak 5/56). ZIMBABWE 254 (M H Dekker 68, A D R Campbell 63; Waqar Younis 5/88) and 187 (M H Dekker 68*, A D R Campbell 75; Wasim Akram 5/65, Waqar Younis 4/50). Pakistan won by 52 runs.

(3RD TEST) At Lahore; 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 December. PAKISTAN 147 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 33, Javed Miandad 31; E A Brandes 3/45. D H Brain 5/42) and 174/1 (Aamer Sohail 32, Shoaib Mohammad 53*, Asif Mujtaba 65*). ZIMBABWE 230 (G W Flower 30, D L Houghton 50, A Flower 62*; Wasim Akram 4/70, Waqar Younis 5/100). Match drawn.

(1ST ODI; 40 overs) At Karachi; 24 December. ZIMBABWE 143 (D L Houghton 52, M H Dekker 33; Wasim Akram 5/15). PAKISTAN 147/3 (Saeed Anwar 68, Basit Ali 41*). Pakistan won by seven wickets.

(2ND ODI; 40 overs) At Rawalpindi; 25 December. ZIMBABWE 195/5 (A D R Campbell 74, D L Houghton 58). PAKISTAN 196/4 (Saeed Anwar 45, Asif Mujtaba 61, Inzamam-ul-Haq 44*). Pakistan won by six wickets.

(3RD ODI; 40 overs) At Lahore; 27 December. PAKISTAN 216/4 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 80*, Javed Miandad 55). ZIMBABWE 141/9 (Mushtaq Ahmed 3/19, Saleem Malik 3/22). Pakistan won by 75 runs.

WESTERN PROVINCE TOUR

ZIMBABWE BOARD XI

At Bulawayo Athletic Club; 25, 26, 27 November. ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 294 (R P Gifford 30, G C Martin 40, P A Strang 35, D N Erasmus 41*, G A Paterson 37, C B Wishart 77; P A N Emslie 5/103). BORDER B 21/0. Match drawn.

At Centurion Park; 10, 11, 12 December. NORTHERN TRANSVAAL B 279 (D J van Zyl 77, G Dros 49, J Groenewald 44; M P Jarvis 6/74) and 220 (W M Dry 75, D J Smith 88*; M P Jarvis 5/51). ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 190 (D J R Campbell 41, N R van Rensburg 31, G A Paterson 49; C van Noordwyk 5/51, A Serfontein 4/63) and 311/6 (G J Rennie 37, S V Carlisle 70, G C Martin 54, N R Van Rensburg 32*, I P Butchart 60*). Zimbabwe Board XI won by four wickets.

At Johannesburg; 21, 22, 23 January. ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 167 (G K Bruk-Jackson 33, P A Strang 45; G D Stevenson 3/44, G B Cooke 3/47) and 163/8 (G A Paterson 73). TRANSVAAL B 387/5 dec (N R Rhodes 67, M W Rushmere 188, P M Boa 69, C Grainger 30; I P Butchart 3/52). Match drawn.

At Durban; 27, 28, 29 January. ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 329 (S V Carlisle 45, D J R Campbell 37, G C Martin 73, G K Bruk-Jackson 58, P A Strang 45; M W Handman 4/94) and 236/3 (S V Carlisle 111*, G C Martin 68). Match drawn.

LOGAN CUP COMPETITION

At Queens Sports Club; 14, 15, 16 January. MATABELELAND 296 (W R James 66, B A Clark 55, H H Streak 42*; D J Rowett 4/65) and 200 (G J Whittall 73; S G Davies 3/14, G W Flower 3/20). MASHONALAND UNDER-24 251 (G W Flower 66, G J Rennie 34, S G Davies 34, H J Hira 46; J A Rennie 5/47) and 137/5 (D N Erasmus 46, R P Gifford 44; J A Rennie 3/35). Match drawn.

At Harare Sports Club; 11, 12, 13 February. MASHONALAND UNDER-24 284 (G W Flower 55, G J Rennie 41, D N Erasmus 47, S G Davies 50; T L Penney 3/18) and 45/0. MASHONALAND 75 (E Z Matambanadzo 3/20) and 253 (A Flower 59, T L Penney 36, G C Martin 43, M G Burmester 52; C A Joseph 3/24). Mashonaland Under-24 won by ten wickets.

At Bulawayo Athletic Club; 11, 12, 13 February. MATABELELAND 433 (M H Dekker 31, N R van Rensburg 40, W R James 215, B A Clark 56; G J Crocker 6/84). MASHONALAND COUNTRY DISTRICTS 220/7 dec (K J Arnott 30, A D R Campbell 33, G J Crocker 31*) and 179 (A C Waller 51, C M Robertson 43; J A Rennie 6/34). Matabeleland won by an innings and 34 runs.

At Harare Sports Club; 4, 5, 6 March. MASHONALAND 358 (M G Burmester 32, A Flower 85, D L Houghton 48, A H Omarshah 31, U Ranchod 36; H K Olonga 3/48) and 160/3 dec (A Flower 40*, D L Houghton 80). MATABELELAND 214 (M H Dekker 48, M D Abrams 64; D H Brain 5/56) and 253/9 (W R James 39, M D Abrams 33, M Ranchod 41, J A Rennie 32*; M P Jarvis 4/41). Match drawn.

At Alexandra Sports Club; 4, 5, 6 March. MASHONALAND UNDER-24 283 (G W Flower 96, C B Wishart 66, E Z Matambanadzo 32*; P A Strang 3/80, T D Coughlan 3/40) and 292 (G W Flower 96, G J Rennie 57, D N Erasmus 76; P A Strang 4/97). MASHONALAND COUNTRY DISTRICTS 249 (K J Arnott 51, A D R Campbell 39, A C Waller 40; H J Hira 3/43, D R Matambanadzo 3/43) and 296/8 (A D R Campbell 73, A C Waller 30, C M Robertson 36, S G Peall 44, T G Bartlett 45; D R Matambanadzo 3/67). Match drawn.

(Final) At Harare Sports Club; 18, 19, 20 March. MASHONALAND UNDER-24 286 (G J Rennie 76, C B Wishart 48, S V Carlisle 44, S G Davies 30, H J Hira 30*; J A Rennie 3/78) and 245 (G W Flower 37, D N Erasmus 41, C B Wishart 30, S V Carlisle 54; G J Whittall 6/34). MATABELELAND 140 (W R James 52*; S G Davies 3/33, D D Stannard 4/23). Match drawn; Mashonaland Under-24 won the Logan Cup by virtue of their first-innings lead.

WORCESTERSHIRE TOUR

At Bulawayo Athletic Club; 13, 14, 15 April. MATABELELAND INVITATION XI 224 (M H Dekker 36, H H Streak 62, W R James 32; P J Newport 3/44, J E Brinkley 3/23) and 291 (L P Vorster 83, M J Hammett 32, W R James 96; J E Brinkley 3/56). WORCESTERSHIRE 322/9 dec (G R Haynes 83, A C H Seymour 30, D B D'Oliveira 66, P J Newport 36*; J A Rennie 3/110, G J Whittall 3/81) and 27/0. Match drawn.

WARWICKSHIRE TOUR

TEST MATCH RECORDS DURING 1993/94
     (* = Test debut; + = final matches of career.)

BATTING AND FIELDING
                    M   I  NO   Runs   HS     Av.   100  50   Ct/St
A D R Campbell      3   5   0   205    75    41.00    -   3    3
A Flower            3   5   1   158    63    39.50    -   2    7/0
*M H Dekker         3   5   1   143    68*   35.75    -   2    1
D L Houghton        3   5   0   123    50    24.60    -   1    3
G W Flower          3   5   0    79    30    15.80    -   -    -
D H Brain           2   3   0    46    28    15.33    -   -    -
*G J Whittall       3   5   0    66    33    13.20    -   -    -
E A Brandes         3   5   1    45    18    11.25    -   -    2
*+G K Bruk-Jackson  2   4   0    39    31     9.75    -   -    -
*W R James          1   1   0     8     8     8.00    -   -    3/0
*S G Peall          2   4   1    21    11*    7.00    -   -    1
*H H Streak         3   5   1    21    19*    5.25    -   -    1
*J A Rennie         2   3   0     5     3     1.66    -   -    -

BOWLING
                    Overs  Mdns  Runs  Wkts   Av.     Best  5wI  10wM
D H Brain            95     24   184   12    15.33    5/42    1   -
E A Brandes         141     26   394   13    30.30    3/45    -   -
H H Streak          110.5   22   284    8    35.50    5/56    1   -
G W Flower           20      4    36    1    36.00    1/8     -   -
S G Peall            55     17   111    2    55.50    2/89    -   -
J A Rennie           59.4   15   171    3    57.00    2/22    -   -
G J Whittall         43.5   15    92    1    92.00    1/26    -   -
A D R Campbell        1      0     3    0      --      --     -   -
A Flower              0.1    0     0    0      --      --     -   -



CONSOLIDATED ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL RECORDS DURING 1993/94
     (* = ODI debuts; + = final matches of career)

                    M   I  NO   Runs   HS     Av.   100  50   Ct/St
A C Waller          4   3   0    96    55    32.00    -   1    1
D L Houghton        7   6   0   174    57    29.00    -   2    1
*J A Rennie         7   5   4    27    12*   27.00    -   -    3
A H Omarshah        2   2   0    51    37    25.50    -   -    1
A D R Campbell      7   6   0   152    74    25.33    -   1    -
G J Whittall        6   6   1   106    36    21.20    -   -    1
A Flower            7   6   0   118    56    19.66    -   1    1/1
M H Dekker          5   4   0    61    33    15.25    -   -    1
*+G K Bruk-Jackson  1   1   0    12    12    12.00    -   -    -
S G Peall           5   4   0    39    17     9.75    -   -    -
*H H Streak         7   5   1    25    11     6.25    -   -    2
G W Flower          5   3   0    15     7     5.00    -   -    1
E A Brandes         4   2   0     9     7     4.50    -   -    1
D H Brain           7   6   0     9     4     1.50    -   -    1
W R James           2   1   1    14    14*     --     -   -    2/0
I P Butchart        1   -   -    --    --      --     -   -    -


BOWLING
                    Overs  Mdns  Runs  Wkts   Av.     Best  4wI
M H Dekker           12.5    0    66    3    22.00    2/16    -
H H Streak           55      8   243    8    30.37    2/15    -
D H Brain            51      3   211    6    35.16    2/45    -
S G Peall            37      1   153    4    38.25    3/54    -
A H Omarshah         15      0    81    2    40.50    2/50    -
J A Rennie           48.4    0   238    4    59.50    2/42    -
E A Brandes          30.3    1   171    2    85.50    1/40    -
G W Flower            9      0    49    0      --      --     -
A D R Campbell        8      0    30    0      --      --     -
G J Whittall          4.3    0    24    0      --      --     -
A Flower              1      0     9    0      --      --     -