Zimbabwe to Retreat? Hell We Just Got Here!

Perkins-Tino Bare

When advised to retreat to withdraw by a French officer at the defensive line just north of the village of Lucy-Bocage on June 1, 1918, Captain Williams is said to have said “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!” Zimbabwe Cricket is going to the World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. With the tourney less than a month away, our new experienced coach DAV Whatmore has set his sights on progressing to the Super 8. This will definitely not be easy, but it`s something well achievable and well in sight.   

Zimbabwe crushed out during the first round last time in India after we only managed to beat minnows Canada and Kenya and to most disgruntled fans this is just one of those overzealous ambitions which they can only but blame themselves for believing but this time round most will certainly scatter for safety, mainly of their trust, avoiding its cruel betrayal which quite frankly has become a custom popularized by the phrase so near yet so far.

Now the selection of our squad last week revealed to us our probable batting and bowling setups are going to be like. On the batting side we may brace ourselves to have most likely Chama Chibhabha opening up for us since he seems to be in form at the moment with either Brandon Taylor or Sikander Raza. The highly experienced Hamilton Masakadza who missed the 2003 2007 and 2011 previous turnouts will be looking set to bat out through the whole tournament in that number 3 slot as he is wee-suited for it. He not only has the maturity of that position but he also has the quality he will be certainly looking forward to make the boys maintain their nerve as soon as that first wicket falls. I would personally prefer the paring of Chamu Chibhabha and Sikander Raza for they can both get some early runs and slot in Brandon Taylor in that 4^th position with Uncle Hammy anchoring at 3^rd whichever pairing the coach chooses all we would want is a stable line-up. 

Another player to look forward to in the batting lineup is Sean Williams, who, after missing the Bangladesh after a fallout over his `grandmother` with the coach will certainly be hungry to show us that he deserves his slot in the team. Also, Sean Williams looks set to bring depth to that depleted middle order. Other players to also look forward to if we are in any way going make it is the hard hitting Elton Chigumbura who should be more responsible with his wicket and should avoid giving away his wicket rather cheaply. The other guys who would certainly add depth to that middle order is the underrated Solomon Mire who scored a half century against Bangladesh last year and showed glimpses of a genuine “hard hitting opening batsmen who can also bowl”. Having played grade cricket in Australia where he grabbed the headlines after he smashed a tournament record 260, from 157 balls with 21 sixes and 13 fours in a one-day match! (Yes you read that right), for the Waratahs in the Darwin and District Cricket Competition. He also struck 184 later that season and amassed 955 runs, the second highest in the competition. Mire was then signed to the Australian Big Bash League Team the Melbourne Renegades before moving on to play for the Centrals where he currently plies his trade. Together with the experience of Matsikinyeri the middle order looks set to be well balanced.

One thing that our batsmen have not been quite able to do is to build up partnerships in their play as they bat out their innings rather disjointedly as batsmen with only a few showing up when most needed. The players we would look up to in building our partnerships are the experienced guys in the team most importantly the trio of Masakadza, Brandon Taylor and Prosper Utseya (whom I don’t personally see as of any value to our squad).

The bowling attack which is currently in lack after two of its bowlers were banned last year will be looking forward to the leg spin of the young Tafadzwa Kamungozi who makes his world Cup debut who will have the experience of Sean Williams and his tricky left spin (another opening spin attack on the cards?). These two look set to be joined by the pace of Tendai Chatara who also making his World Cup debut, together with Tinashe Panyangara they look set to bring stability to a bowling attack that has of late lacked penetration.

Now, looking at our pool, progression into the super would technically require 2 wins and we have South Africa, India, West Indies, Pakistan UAE and Ireland making up the rest of the lot. I didn’t get a chance to get Dav Whatmore`s game plan going into this tournament and what exactly he has planned to ensure our progression into the Super 8 which will all be a welcome bonus for the pitiful state our game finds itself in. Looking at the biggest team in our pool, South Africa and India, those two matches are no-brainers for the sane for we know that our boys are going to lose both of those matches and they are going to lose comprehensively. Since we technically need 2 victories to progress into the super 8 with our boys and the UAE being the whipping boys of the group, we have to mount challenges against Ireland West Indies and Pakistan and out of these three matches we should at least get two victories with the one over UAE being all but settled avoiding disappointments.

Ireland is ranked 12^th on the ICC rankings 2 places lower than the Chevrons which is going to be an added advantage going into the tournament for our boys. One thing that the Irish are certainly going to bring to the table is a lot of passion for they will be seeking to make a great impression as they have always done. They will obviously be playing in great spirits unlike our boys and the player to fear out of the Irish camp is the Kevin O`Brien who had a wonderful tournament in India and was the inspiration behind their win over England. This time round the Irish preferred young pace bowlers Craig young and Peter Chase to the experienced Max Sorenson and they look set to generate extra pace and bounce on the pitch in Australia.

The Irish skipper William Potterfield will not let his boys be upset by Zimbabwe of all teams with two thirds of his boys having County Experience including Potterfield Ed Joyce and the O`Brien brothers Kevin and Niall. John Mooney who has been open with his depression looks to be the vulnerable player in their camp and if our boys are able to get into his head then we could start from there. With the Irish captain having made their intentions clear, “It`s fantastic to be leading Ireland in another global tournament`, he said “We’ve produced some wonderful performances over the years in World Cups and there`s no reason why we cannot claim further successes in Australia and New Zealand”.

 With the Irish bowling attack, led by Cussack and Mooney averaging just 70mph this should in no way trouble our batsmen that much. They look set to use a total of 4 full time bowlers with Stirling in ODIs and List A matches having an average of under 35 with an economy of under 5 the Irish look set to get the wickets and just like us could as well lack penetration and this is a bowling side that is certainly not that strong. With the Irish being strong in their bowling and fielding this side is a side which I do not see any reason to fear.

Another team in our pool are the Windies who are currently playing South Africa. West Indies went down 2-1 in the Tests all too easily and they showed a lack of fight in them which at first frustrated the serious Protea fan, for the whole series looked to be in jeopardy with Windies awful performance. They have currently taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3 match T20 series with Chris Gayle leading the headlines as he made the fastest half century in the first T20 and then went on to score 90 in the second T20 and in the process West Indies making another record that of the highest T20 run chase 236 all but just stamping their status of being hard-hitters. This then shows that our bowlers have to be wary of their batsmen especially their big man Chris Gayle who could easily run roughshod over our bowlers. What I greatly fear from this game against the West Indies is the great possibility of a big score knowing very well that boys are not cut out for these huge scores.   

West Indies however go into this tournament with their game being on a freefall after their fallout with India and they have been mired by controversy. They have not had the ideal preparations with morale also at an all-time low in the Caribbean, “I see West Indies crushing right out of the first round, thought this Clive whatever his name dude was supposed to be smart, he`s just strangling whatever life is left in the game in the Caribbean” said one Windies fan as they expressed their disgruntlement at the death of their game (Well Welcome To Our world!). West Indies are currently ranked 8^th on the ICC rankings which is 2 places above us and they will prove to be very tough opponents. However they are going into this tournament without the services of Bravo and Kieron Pollard which was not a surprise to most of us as the West Indies great Ramnarine had said the same months ago before the announcement of their world cup squad on his twitter account which raised speculation about the disgruntlement between the players and the board which still seems unresolved with their captain plating down all the allegations.

Another team in our pool is Pakistan and those just like every other team in the poll wouldn’t want to lose to Zimbabwe. The player who looks set to be a tricky customer in the Pakistan camp is Sohail Khan who was the highest wicket taker in this season`s Quaid-e-Azam Gold League with a total of 64 wickets at an average of 22. The greatest weaknesses of this team would be the absence of Nasir Jamshed who is out with Umar Gul and Bilawal Bhatti excluded from the team with injuries. Pakistan are however taking a risk on Sohail whom our batsmen could pick on. “Obviously Sohail`s inclusion is a surprise for all of you but this is proof that we selectors do prefer domestic perfomances” said the Pakistan convenor of selectors. Pakistan also seem depleted as they have gone in with only two specialist openers with the team being dogged by injuries. The trio of Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil and Sohaib Maqsood miseed the December series against New Zealand beacause of injuries with as many as six players in party suffering from various injuries. With the aging Boom Boom Afridi and captain Misbah Ul Haq, these two could be troubled by our younger bowlers especially Chatara given that on a good day he can reach speeds of 140km/h.