Forgotten warriors back in the fold

Published: Weekend Witness October 2011

After a hiatus of almost six years from test cricket, Zimbabwe have announced their reintroduction into the test arena with some gritty performances which suggest that the controlling body for the sport, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been justified by their decision to re-award the sleeping African nation its test status.

Although Zimbabwe lost the recent one off tests against Pakistan fairly significantly, Zimbabwe managed to beat Bangladesh with performances from Zimbabwe’s younger players suggest that given time, the nation can regain some cricketing pride and take its place amongst the world elite

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For many years, Zimbabwe was able to claim that it was one of the most gritty test playing nations in the world. While it could not compete against the bigger teams in the world, it could hold its own against them and often spoil the apple cart.

However, this was denied in 2005 when the (ICC), announced that political turmoil in the embattled country, along with a string of poor performances, would mean that Zimbabwe would be temporarily stripped of its test status. However, the country would be allowed to compete in the shorter versions of the game.

But many argued that denying up and coming Zimbabwean youngsters a chance to prove themselves in the games ultimate benchmark would be a significant blow to cricket in the country and would set it back 30 years. However the ICC stood by their decision saying that their hand was forced by established test playing countries such as Australia and England who refused to tour the country because of its political landscape.

The global distain for the country’s political landscape came to a head at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup which was played in South Africa. In the lead up to the tournament, England was under significant pressure to boycott their game against Zimbabwe, which was due to take place in Harare. Knowing that much would be at stake, England toyed with the idea of playing the match, but ultimately bowed to calls from England to go ahead with the boycott. This effectively handed Zimbabwe the win which sent them into the knockout stages of the tournament just two points ahead of England.

Zimbabwean players also had their fair share of courting controversy. Senior players, Henry Olonga and Heath Streak wore black armbands in their first match of the tournament in protest to what they called ‘the death of democracy in Zimbabwe’. Both players retired from international cricket after the tournament to play in England, at a press conference Olonga said that continuing would be condoning the grotesque human rights violations that have been perpetrated, and continue to be perpetrated, against his fellow countrymen.

This in itself was a significant blow to cricket in Zimbabwe because both Streak and Olonga retired at the height of their powers where Streak was rated among the world’s top fast bowlers.

Andy Flower, who a year before toped the ICC Rankings for test batsmen, also hung up his gloves soon thereafter, leaving Zimbabwe with a void in its cricket which would take almost a decade to rectify.

With the inclusive government of national unity, the political situation in the country has regained some measure of stability, so the ICC felt that it was time to re-introduce the nation into the longer version of the game.

Now under the guidance of former English county player Alan Butcher and the leadership of veteran all-rounder Brendan Taylor, a new dawn for Zimbabwe cricket might be on the horizon.

Zimbabwe managed to beat Bangladesh in their first test match in over six years during the one off test between the nations at the Harare Sports Club in August this year. Hamilton Masakadza scored his first century in ten years during the first innings while debutant Brian Vitori took 4/66 during Bangladesh’s first batting innings. Taylor was named man of the match with a cleverly played 71 in the first innings and a masterful 105 in the second innings.

Zimbabwe then had to negate a one off test against Pakistan at the Queens Sport Club in Bulawayo.

Making his test debut at the Queens Sport Club, Zimbabwean batsman Tirotenda Mawoyo scored 163 while veteran gloveman Tatenda Taibu scored 58 in Zimbabwe’s second innings.

Not much was expected of a relatively young Zimbabwe team who has no test experience. Their win against Bangladesh proved that the likes of the Asian team and West Indies could find themselves staring down the barrel of a loaded gun which could halt any plans they may have in terms of ‘easy series’. The loss against Pakistan was predictable in that although they are effectively ‘homeless’ they are able to produce results which prove that they are one of the top test playing nations in the world.

The key for Zimbabwe is that they don’t lose heart and continue their new journey into international cricket despite what the future holds in terms of results. With more bilateral series during gaps in the ICC Future Tours Programme, South Africa could play a significant role in the revival of Zimbabwe. The inclusion of Zimbabwe in the domestic SuperSport Series could also be a way in which cricket in Zimbabwe could find itself on a road to recovery.

Brian Vitori proved that the ICC made the right decision to re-introduce Zimbabwe into Test cricket