Alistair Campbell should get to play in a fourth World Cup after all, after receiving a call-up Sunday to the injury-plagued Zimbabwe squad when Mark Vermeulen was ruled out with a fractured skull.
And, with Brian Murphy’s calf-muscle injury sustained during the lunch-break of Saturday’s defeat to New Zealand more serious than originally suspected, Stuart Matsikanyeri was also drafted.
”We have put in the necessary papers to the International Cricket Council,” said Zimbabwe’s spokesman Babu Meman, ”We’re just waiting for local doctor’s certificates in support of our request.”
Campbell, who struggled for form in the year building up to the World Cup, was omitted from the original 15-man squad, despite an international career spanning 187 one-day matches and 5 178 runs at an average of 30,63.
The 30-year-old left-handed batsman was working at the Cup as a TV commentator and said he’d have to send home for his cricket gear. Campbell, who was originally selected to the Zimbabwe national side while still at school, will bolster the middle order which let the Africans down against New Zealand.
Campbell’s late inclusion will make him one of a handful of players who have appeared in four World Cups, as he started his World Cup career at just 19 in the 1992 tournament.
Opener Vermeulen sustained a hairline fracture of the skull when a ball from teammate Travis Friend crashed through he visor of his helmet during net practice ahead of the New Zealand match. Matsikanyeri’s call-up brings one of wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu’s schoolmates from Churchill Boys High School in Harare into
the national squad a little earlier than anticipated.
Although he has been earmarked for higher honors, his elevation to the national team was probably hindered by Zimbabwe’s batting strength.
A student at Zimbabwe’s national cricket academy, he also spent a season playing club cricket for Port Adelaide in South Australia to gain more experience. – Sapa-AP