By John Ward

All other cricket news this week has been overshadowed by the death of Sir Donald Bradman at the age of 92. Statistically he was the greatest run-scorer in the game's history by a huge margin. In his entire first-class career he averaged 95. The next best career average is 71 by his Indian contemporary Vijay Merchant, who averaged 71. Nobody else with a significant career has averaged more than 70. In Test cricket he averaged 99. The runner-up is the South African Graeme Pollock, at just under 61, although Barry Richards, many will remember, averaged 72 in the one series he was allowed to play. The gap is enormous.

He was not only a great cricketer but also a great man who succeeded at all he did. His statistical supremacy happened because nobody else has been able to combine supreme talent with ruthless ambition to the same extent. If Sachin Tendulkar had the same insatiable hunger and ruthless determination for huge scores in every innings he played, or if Geoff Boycott had the same natural talent, the Don might have had an equal. [More]

BIOGRAPHY

Campbell McMillan

Campbell McMillan, one of the most impressive school cricketers of 2000, is now a student at the CFX Academy in Harare. He has no notable family background in cricket, although his father did play club cricket briefly and encouraged him ever since, as he says, he was able to pick up a bat and a ball. Campbell remembers at a very young age playing with his father in their yard, with his father throwing him plastic balls for him to hit. [More]

Keith Dabengwa

Keith Dabengwa is the first black Zimbabwean to win through to first-class cricket primarily as a spin bowler. Like most black Zimbabwean players, he has no family background in cricket. He is the youngest of a family of six children and the only one to take an interest in the sport. Incidentally, he has a relative who is a minister in the Zimbabwean government. [More]

INTERVIEW

Paul Strang: Board XI v Border 'B'
The Zimbabwe Board XI had a disappointing weekend at East London where they played Border B in the last matches of their league programme. They lost the three-day match and tied the one-day, but still managed to finish top of the table in both leagues. Coach Trevor Penney feels that some of the players may have been a little too relaxed, with supremacy in the league almost assured; captain Paul Strang disagrees. After the match Paul Strang talked to CricInfo about it. [More]

SCHOOLS

Lilfordia Primary School
by Iain Campbell (1st XI coach)
The team's first home match produced the most convincing showing thus far. The pitch had damp patches (leaky covers) and play was interrupted by intermittent showers throughout the day so conditions were hardly familiar but the mysterious psychological advantage of performing on one's 'own dung heap' was nevertheless manifest.

Taylor unsurprisingly became the first of the current crop to register an individual first XI half-century. He opened the innings and remained not out at the end but his sterling effort could not be registered as 'carrying his bat' because he felt nauseous shortly after reaching double figures, "retired ill" for about an hour, and then returned to the fray. [More]

Mashonaland Logan Cup News

The two Mashonaland teams meet at Harare Sports Club in their Logan Cup 'derby' match. The Mashonaland A side, which remains unchanged from the team that played Matabeleland the weekend before last, is technically the home team.

Mashonaland on the other hand make four changes, as their international players are available again. Recent captain Trevor Penney, who only played due to the extreme difficulty the selectors had in finding enough quality players, reverts to his position as coach of Mashonaland A and will not be playing. He will be replaced by Grant Flower, who takes over at captain. [More]

Matabeleland Report
by Derrick Townshend
Matabeleland face Manicaland in their second Logan Cup fixture of the season at BAC in Bulawayo this weekend. However, the match is likely to be disrupted due to the present wet weather being experienced in the province. With the constant rains over the past two weeks the outfield is fairly wet but should drain quickly to allow the match to be played without much disruption.

The national captain Heath Streak is still not available, as he requires more rest for his troublesome knee and is only likely to play in the next Logan Cup fixture in two weeks' time as a batsman. The team shows one change from the previous match, John Rennie being unavailable due to business commitments. [More]

National League Final: rain spoils showdown
By Clive Ruffell
The final of the National First League knockout competition, between defending champions Old Hararians and Bulawayo-based Queens Sports Club, was badly affected by rain on Sunday as hopes of an exciting end to the club season were dashed. Harare had experienced heavy rainfall for three days preceding the match, and it was somewhat surprising that the players were able to take the field at all.

Both teams were at near full strength for the final, with OH able to include Dirk Viljoen, fresh from the Carlton & United Series in Australia, as well as former international players Paul Strang and Gary Brent, and seasoned English county campaigner Trevor Penney. [More]

Andy Flower crushes Alexandra
Vigne Cup report by Clive Ruffell
Many of the Zimbabwean national players turned out for their respective clubs for the first time this season to add some spice to the penultimate round of Vigne Cup matches of the season.

Andy Flower led the charge as he smashed the hapless Alexandra bowlers to all corners of the Eaglesvale School ground, inspiring Winstonians to a thumping 106-run victory. Flower, who has hardly taken a break since returning from Australia, followed up his recent international form to score easily more than half his side's total, receiving support from Bruce Makovah who weighed in with 59. Alex, set a target of 235 for victory, were never in the chase as the Winstonian bowlers kept a tight line and length. Alex skipper Gavin Rennie could not emulate the batting heroics of his national team-mate, and although several batsmen reached scores in the twenties, none was able to bat for any length of time, and Alex were dismissed for 128. Stewart Matsikenyeri continued to show promise as an all-rounder, taking 3/22 off 10 overs of off-spin. Norbert Manyande also impressed once again with the new ball, and even Flower displayed his all-round talents with a spell of 8-0-21-0. The defeat is a blow to Alex's title aspirations as they slipped off the top of the log into second place. [More]

STATISTICS

Grant Flower in Test cricket[More]