By John Ward

So, a target of 280 was not enough to challenge the Australians at Hobart. Well though Zimbabwe batted, the bowling was not up to the same standard, and that was predictably fatal. So everything for Zimbabwe depends on the match against West Indies on the fast, bouncy pitch at Perth, when the winner will almost certainly get into the finals against Australia. Probably most Australians will be hoping that Zimbabwe will succeed, as they have generally put up a much better fight against Australia than West Indies have, but are still not strong enough to challenge the home side. [More]

INTERVIEW

Henry Olonga: in the cold

The career of Zimbabwe's fastest bowler, Henry Olonga, may be at the crossroads. After suffering a recurring injury, which has only recently been diagnosed as a stress fracture, he is pensive about the game and his future in it, although he does intend to play again.

The trouble dates back to the West Indian tour last April, when he hurt his shoulder, after a season for much of which he had to be the lone spearhead of the Zimbabwean attack with Heath Streak injured. He missed the last two matches of the one-day series in West Indies, and had a complete break for two weeks until the team arrived in England. "I probably wasn't as fit as I thought I was," he admits. "What then happened was that I injured my left leg in the match against Essex and got what is called a stress fracture. At the time it wasn't diagnosed correctly. I can't remember exactly when I first felt the pain, but it certainly got worse and worse after I got off the field. Amato [the team physio] iced it but the next day I actually found it very difficult to walk. We had a practice a day or so after the Essex game and I remember telling Andy Pycroft [coach on the England tour] and Carl Rackemann that I couldn't land on my leg. I couldn't put any pressure on it. [More]

Gavin Johnstone-Robertson

Gavin Johnstone-Robertson is a trim 54-year-old who has kept his body in good shape and refused to allow his mind to tell him he is too old for this sort of thing. His story is all the more remarkable in that he was never an outstanding cricketer at any level and played little adult cricket at all before the age of 50.

He was born in South Africa but has lived almost all of his life in Zimbabwe, attending Hamilton Boys High School in Bulawayo and Plumtree School. He had no significant family background in cricket as his father, although involved in a sports club, did not play himself and Gavin learned the game at school. He was mostly a second-team player, although he played occasional first-team matches. Hockey was his main sport and he played inter-provincial hockey in his youth. [More]

NEWS

Underpriviledged clubs in Zimbabwe

by Stephen Mangongo

The term 'underprivileged cricket clubs' applies to those cricket clubs that have predominantly black players from the historically non-traditional cricket areas due to past colonial imbalances, where cricket was promoted only among the white community.

The pioneer of these underprivileged clubs is Winstonians CC, with its player base mainly in Highfield Township. The past two years have seen the formation of five such new clubs, namely Northwinds, with its player base in Chitungwiza, Mabvuku from the township of the same name, Glen Shire from Glen View, Shamva CC from Shamva, and Chitungwiza CC. [More]

LETTERS

Meeting the Zimbabweans
Well, I finally met them! My family and I travelled to Adelaide on the Wednesday morning, and got there about 2:30. I then had to race around to Adelaide Oval for their 3:00 pm practice.

I arrived at the Oval just as the team bus pulled up. I then just casually walked into the ground with the players. I was living a dream. For the next three and a half hours I was able to mingle and talk to and get autographs off all of the players and coach. There was a smallish but enthusiastic crowd there for the training. I actually had people coming up to me and asking ME questions about some of the players, like who was this player and which player this was. I had my Zimbabwe World Cup shirt on which probably helped my cause.
Leon Bain (Australia) [Letters Page]

STATISTICS

Heath Streak in Test cricket [More]

Heath Streak in ODI cricket [More]

Club Cricket Report by Clive Ruffell

Defending champions Old Hararians and Bulawayo side Queens Sports Club will meet in the final of the national first league competition on Sunday 11 February after brushing aside Alexandra Sports Club and Universals in their respective semi-final matches last weekend.

OH captain Trevor Penney inspired OH to a healthy 249/7 in 50 overs with an unbeaten 82. Alex bowlers Andy Blignaut and Campbell Macmillan had caused early problems for OH, dismissing Conan Brewer, Raymond Butterworth, Neetham Chouhan and Colin Delport for just 29 runs between them. Paul Strang and Greg Lamb batted sensibly to steady the innings with a half-century partnership before Penney, ably assisted by Sean Ervine, launched his assault on the bowling. Penney is clearly the best OH batsman by some margin and his abilities are somewhat wasted by him batting at number seven, and it would not be surprising to see him move up to number four or five for the final. Andy Blignaut ended his bowling with three wickets, but his figures were damaged by nine no-balls and eight wides, a factor which would prove decisive in the end. [More]

Matabeleland look to strongest ever bowling attack

By Derrick Townshend

Matabeleland expect to play the strongest pace bowling attack in their history in the forthcoming Logan Cup competition. They had five international pace bowlers in their original squad: Heath Streak, Henry Olonga, 'Pommie' Mbangwa, John Rennie and Mluleki Nkala.

However, Henry Olonga has since withdrawn from the squad through injury. This was a disappointment, but was compensated for by the return of regular provincial wicket-keeper Warren Gilmour, after spending six months playing hockey in the United Kingdom. This was welcome news as without him the province had no capable keeper and were having to think of using as stand-ins either Charles Coventry (junior) or Stuart Walker, a teacher at Plumtree who has recently moved into town. [More]

Midlands cricket: Kwekwe happy with season

By Colin Sanders

As the 'one-day' season comes to a close, it is very evident that cricket is alive, well and going from strength to strength in the Midlands. The season for club sides in the Midlands started off back in August, with a Saturday afternoon league. In the league were four sides, three from Kwekwe and a side from Gweru. The league was very popular and was played in good spirit. Kwekwe Sports Club were the eventual winners of the league but were pushed all the way by Kwekwe Sports Club 'Golden Oldies', which was captained by the evergreen Ken Connelly. [More]

SCHOOLS

St George's College

By Dhan Kalan (cricket master)

St George's College has traditionally been a strong cricketing school. Many famous names have made it through the ranks to the national senior team. Before independence the likes of Ray Gripper, 'Goofy' Lawrence and Paddy Clift, and afterwards Grant Flower, the Rennie brothers (John and Gavin), Trevor Gripper and Brian Murphy have played for their country. There have been many more in this illustrious group. [More]

Victoria High School
By Jax Shumbaimwe
Results from the matches played against South Eastern College (SEC) [More]

Hillcrest College v Gateway High School
By Humphrey Tate [Results]

Picture of the Week