By John Ward

A Happy New Millennium to all our readers. Zimbabwe became the first international cricket team to win a series in the new millennium when they picked up a 2-1 one-day victory over New Zealand by the narrowest possible margin of one wicket. Once again we owe that victory to our two great world-class players, Andy Flower and Heath Streak, who at the moment stand head and shoulders above their teammates. The New Zealand tour is covered elsewhere in this issue.

I wrote on the eve of the Carlton and United World Series in Australia, where Zimbabwe take on Australia and West Indies. It is almost inconceivable that Australia will fail to win the round-robin section and also the finals. It is hard to see them losing a match, unless Brian Lara plays a blinder. The vital question is who will be the losing finalists? [More]

INTERVIEW

Eddo Brandes: still sending them down

"I had retired, but then with Murray [Goodwin] going and also Neil Johnson, I thought that maybe I would have a bit more to offer Zimbabwe cricket," he says. "So I made myself available again and come out and played this season." And with some success too, as he regularly contributes with both bat and ball to Harare Sports Club's first-league match scorecards.

So far, though, there has been no response from the selectors, but Eddo is definitely available for international cricket should they want him. Realistically, though, this is unlikely unless he can produce something spectacular on a regular basis, especially in the forthcoming Logan Cup competition or the national side suffers a long list of injuries and loss of form. He is 38 in March, four months younger than Courtney Walsh and with much less mileage on the clock. But unlike Walsh he is no longer quite the best of the bunch, although still a fine bowler who bats well enough to be considered a genuine all-rounder at local level. [More]

TOURS IN ZIMBABWE, 2001

Tour itineraries for the Bangladeshi and Indian tours to Zimbabwe later in the season have been announced, as follows. ZCU are still awaiting confirmation by the West Indian Board for their tour, which is expected to include two Test matches in July after the triangular tournament. [More]

LETTERS

Outstanding!
As a loyal Zimbabwean and true fan of Zimbabwean cricket, it gave me tremendous pride to watch Zimbabwe's victory in that spectacular final against New Zealand in the O.D.I. series. I spent the entire night glued to the set of my computer whilst the stats streamed in from Cricket Info. I thought we were dead and buried at five wickets down but, I have know that you can NEVER write Zimbabweans off!! Please pass on by warmest and proudest congratulations to Heath and the team for a job well done.
Sean Gallagher (Flitwick, United Kingdom) [More Letters]

STATISTICS

Zimbabwe Test Match Records [Read]
Zimbabwe ODI Records [Read]
Zim v New Zealand Test Records [More]
Zim v New Zealand ODI Records [More]

Wishart leads OG's to victory in tight finish
National League review by Clive Ruffell

In one of the closest matches of the season so far, Craig Wishart stroked 79 not out as Old Georgians squeaked home to victory against Universals by four wickets with just one ball to spare. Visiting captain Everton Matambanadzo won the toss and elected to bat first in warm sunny conditions. Alester Maragwede and Darlington Matambanadzo made a useful start for Universals with a half-century opening partnership against an attack significantly weakened by the absence of regular captain and all-rounder Gus Mackay, currently on duty with the Zimbabwe team in Australia and New Zealand. Stand-in captain Craig Evans brought himself on to bowl and was almost immediately successful, removing Maragwede for 33, star batsman Dion Ebrahim for 11, and veteran stalwart Ali Shah for a single. From then on it was hard work for the Universals batsmen, but a breezy half-century from Hamid Adam boosted the run rate sufficiently for the visitors to reach the 200 mark, the final total of 206/8 in 50 overs helped significantly by 29 wides and no-balls sent down by the Alex bowlers. [More]

Zimbabwe Schools Under 15 - P.G.Bison Week: December 2000
Manager's Report By Jim Redfern (Peterhouse School)

The touring squad flew into Port Elizabeth at approximately 8.30 p.m. on Sunday 10 December, 2000, after missing our connecting flight in Johannesburg through our late departure from Harare. We suffered further delay when our hired transport could not be acquired because we had no credit card facility and US$ traveller cheques were unacceptable! We eventually arrived at our accommodation at the University of Port Elizabeth and after hunting down room keys went to bed after midnight and having missed the Managers/Coaches briefing and welcome. [More]

Zimbabwe Under 14's in South Africa
By Temba Mkosana

We had a fairly uneventful flight to East London on 5 December 2000, except for a few bumps before landing. When we arrived in East London it was pouring with rain and we thought we would not be able to get much cricket in. Fortunately the weather was sympathetic to the cause of cricket and we managed to get six decent games on the tour. [More]

SCHOOLS

Eaglesvale High School, 2000
By D Sithole

This was a good season for the Eaglesvale first team. Manie Conradie led a team with less individual flair; however 'team approach' was the driving force behind the season's success.

Eaglesvale is among the top teams in the country. Early in the season Eaglesvale broke Lomagundi's winning streak by beating them by six wickets. Eaglesvale also accounted for the downfall of another cricketing powerhouse in St George's, whom they beat during the festival week and during the season. [More]

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