Zimbabwean cricket team

The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket (formerly known as "Zimbabwe Cricket Union", "ZCU").

Zimbabwe is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I.C.C.) with Test and one-day international status, although it is currently inactive in Tests (see below).

History

Before Test status

In common with all the other full members of the I.C.C., Zimbabwe had a cricket team before it achieved Test status.

A brief summary of key moments:

Rhodesia was represented in the South African tournament, the Currie Cup, between the wars, and then again from 1946.
Following independence in 1980, the country began to play more international cricket.
On July 21, 1981 Zimbabwe was elected an associate member of the ICC.
Zimbabwe then participated in the 1983 cricket World Cup, as well as the 1987 and 1992 events.

Test status

Zimbabwe played its first Test match in 1992 (against India at Harare resulting in a draw), becoming the ninth Test nation.

Zimbabwe's early Test performances were consistently weak, leading to many suggestions that they were undeserving of that status. In the one-day arena, however, the team soon became competitive, if not particularly strong. In particular, world respect was gained for their fielding ability, considered second only to South Africa's.

1990s

In spite of his team's difficulties, wicket-keeper/batsman Andy Flower was at one point rated the best batsman in world cricket. During this era, Zimbabwe also produced such cricketers as Flower's brother Grant, allrounder (and later national captain) Heath Streak and professional chicken farmer Eddo Brandes, who achieved considerable fame as a bowler. Murray Goodwin was also a world-class batsman; following his retirement from international cricket, he has scored heavily for Sussex.

With the appearance of some quality players, a breakthrough was achieved in levels of performance in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, the political situation in Zimbabwe declined at around the same time.

The 2003 World Cup

Apparent increasing politicisation of cricket, including selectorial policy, along with the declining situation in Zimbabwe disrupted the 2003 cricket World Cup, which was jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and South Africa.

England and Australia both forfeited matches scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe, risking their own progress through the competition, the former citing "security concerns" as their reason.

As if that were not enough, Zimbabwean players Andy Flower and fast bowler Henry Olonga wore black armbands. At the subsequent press conference, they made the statement that they were mourning the death of freedom in Zimbabwe. Both were immediately dismissed from the team and applied for asylum overseas. This public political protest caused considerable embarrassment to the co-hosts and disrupted team harmony.

Since the 2003 World Cup, a succession of Zimbabwe's best players have ended their international careers early.

Post World Cup

In late 2003, Zimbabwe toured Australia in a two-match series. The series was more memorable for Australian opener Matthew Hayden's innings in the first Test - in which he overcame a back strain to score a then record 380 runs - than for the Zimbabwean performance.

The Streak affair

In 2004, captain Heath Streak was sacked by the ZCU, prompting a walkout by 14 other players in protest against political influence in the team's management and selection policies. A scheduled tour by Sri Lanka went ahead, however this was a lopsided affair, with Zimbabwe represented by fringe players who had not reached international standards yet.

Because of this, the ZCU accepted that Zimbabwe were to play no further Test cricket in 2004, though its status as a Test nation was unaffected.

In early 2005, Heath Streak was reinstated into the Zimbabwean team. However, in November 2005, the players were once again in dispute with the board, and the new captain, Tatenda Taibu, resigned.

The political situation in Zimbabwe, in which white pastoralists were evicted from their land by black "war veterans" also conspired against the Zimbabwean team. During overseas tours, the players were often said to be buying necessities which were unavailable - or prohibitively expensive - at home, as opposed to the souvenirs which other touring teams would purchase.

In 2005 an agreement was signed which led to the return of many of the rebels to the Zimbabwe side. However, results failed to improve as in March Zimbabwe lost both their Tests on tour against South Africa by an innings. Worse was to follow in August, when they were crushed on home soil by New Zealand, in a match that was completed in just two days, instead of the usual five. In the process, Zimbabwe were humiliated; they became only the second side in Test history (after India in 1952) to be bowled out twice in the space of one day.

By November 2005, the players were once again in dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket over political interference in the management of the game as well as contract negotiations, and the new captain, Tatenda Taibu, resigned from international cricket.

By January 2006, 37 Zimbabwean cricketers had failed to receive any offer of renegotiation talks from Zimbabwe Cricket after their contracts with the board had expired. This body of players demanded that the chairman and managing director of Zimbabwe cricket, Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, be removed from office for there to be any hope for the players to return to the international stage.

On January 6 2006, the Sports and Recreation Commission, a division of the Zimbabwean government, took over the offices of Zimbabwe Cricket. The apparent takeover has resulted in the firing of all whites and Asians among the board directors, because of "their racial connotations and saving their own agendas and not government policy" according to Gibson Mashingaidze, an army brigadier and chairman of the government's Sports and Recreation Commission.

An interim board was appointed as the new leading party of cricket in Zimbabwe, with Peter Chingoka appointed as the committee's head. Given Chingoka's close ties to Bvute, it is likely that the latter will continue in his post as well.

Self-imposed suspension

On 18 January 2006, Zimbabwe Cricket announced that they were suspending the playing of Test cricket for the rest of the year.^*.

The team is now scheduled to play its next Test match in July 2007, when they will host an Australian tour party.

Current Squad

The side is the one that toured West Indies in 2006.

Duffin, Taylor, Chigumbura, Rinke and Utseya played all six matches, but all players played at least two games, and there was no real fixed eleven. In this squad, the most experienced player (in terms of number of international matches) is Taylor, with 42 ODIs and 10 Tests.

Current and former notable players

Players are included here because of outstanding achievement or other prominence / notoriety. For a fuller list of Zimbabwean cricketers, see Category:Zimbabwean cricketers