England’s cricket tourists are counting down their three days left in Zimbabwe, two of which they want to spend beating the home side as comprehensively as possible.
England won the first two of the four internationals — the first just comfortably, the second on Wednesday in a wicket spree by Alex Wharf (four wickets) and James Anderson (three) to skittle the young Zimbabweans for 102.
Now they have moved south to Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo. Steady rain fell on Friday over the Queens Sports Club. The outfield doesn’t drain very well, and this offers a serious threat.
Tatenda Taibu and his team only have a short time left to prove their development in the six months allowed by the International Cricket Council to a point where they can be competitive in Test cricket.
Yet to independent observers, they have a long way to go. Fortunately for them, their first test opponents will be the equally modest Bangladesh.
”We were good in patches during previous games, but that is simply not good enough,” Taibu said. ”We will have to play 100 overs of good cricket tomorrow.”
Captain Michael Vaughan wasn’t prepared to underestimate Zimbabwe.
”We will play them in exactly the same way as any other country,” he said. ”They have pressured us on occasion and I still treat them with respect. The cricket so far has been interesting.”
England had a lengthy workout in the nets on Friday before the rain, which deprived Zimbabwe of their final preparations. Vaughan said he was concerned about the opening bowling and this was a main area of work.
Vaughan also hinted at one or two changes for the match on Saturday, with a possible inclusion of Simon Jones in their attack. – Sapa-AP