Letters

Editorial address: jward@cricinfo.com

WELL DONE, ZIMBABWE

I would just like to say well done to the national team for the way they played against Bangladesh in the Test series. Although it is only Bangladesh, a win is a win and we really needed something to boost our confidence and hopefully we can now transfer this form into the ODIs. Good luck to all the junior teams representing us in competitions.

Lastly I think what Matabeleland is doing is very good. I think people need to take the Logan Cup seriously and do what Matabeleland is doing, by selecting a team in advance then start training early so that the entire team know each other very well. In my opinion making the Logan Cup four days will also help us prepare future stars for Test cricket. One thing that we could is to try and replace the national league with the Logan Cup and have one or two tournaments in the shorter version of the game.

Sibusiso Nkomani (Belgium)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Is Doug Hondo injured or has he fallen that far out of favour already? What has happened to Everton Matambanadzo?

Interesting thought for an article on the newsletter - Where are they now? The first 18 Academy students are reaching the end of their 3 year contracts. There was the rebels - Madondo/Blignaut/Nyakutse, the émigrés Lamb/Young/Moore-Gordon, the successes Marillier/Ebrahim/Price, the failures Matambanadzo/Viljoen/Mutendera, the good pros Brent, Gada and Kenny and the may come yets Vermeulen, Hondo, Ferreira.

You will see that Greg Lamb is in the émigrés - It would appear that he is not returning to Zim. He has played for Hampshire seconds and bought a house in Surrey with his English girlfriend. I hope to speak to him tonight and will e-mail you an article/interview piece. When I spoke with Dave Houghton of the ZCU he had no idea of where he was, and the ZCU had not heard from him since last March. This is an obvious risk of sending these boys for 3 consecutive summers in England.

Robin Mence (England)

Reply: We will look forward to the article, thanks very much. Hondo is not yet ready for international cricket, as was evident, while Matambanadzo has been unable to find his best form for the last two years. Perhaps it is rather harsh to label the three ‘failures’, as all have played international cricket, unlike many of the others; they did not cement their places but could come again.

ANDY FLOWER AND TREVOR PENNEY

I couldn’t resist writing about Andy Flower. Some weeks ago I suggested he would be would be a good choice as an overseas player for an English county. You replied that it would need to be a ‘massive offer’ to tempt him. However, he is now going to play for Essex - I wonder what tempted him? I was pleased with the interview with Trevor Penney. He says he found the one-day contract with Warwickshire hard to accept and couldn’t really believe it. He wasn’t the only one! Many members think he has been badly treated by the county and would be only too pleased to see him back in the championship side. I’ve never heard anything but good about him from people I speak to at Edgbaston.

One more thing - do I get the impression that Graeme Hick isn’t too popular in Zimbabwe? You often compare him unfavourably to Trevor!

Beverly Treml (UK)

Reply: I think Andy must have had a massive offer - or a big one, anyway! I suspect in his present form he is enjoying his cricket so much that he is willing to take on a county season, whereas in his younger days he probably would not have done so. Zimbabweans are a forgiving lot and Graeme Hick is still worshipped by many in this country, even though, unlike Trevor Penney, he seems to have forgotten his roots.