Story Azza manages Zimbabwe :O [ICC 2005]

Azza! · Mar 20, 2006

Azza manages Zimbabwe :O

I have decided to go for a challenge and manage Zimbabwe on NORMAL DIFFICULTY and see what I can make out of the mid-crisis minnows. This should be interesting, especially to see what happens in the future when any few remaining near-first-class quality players retire. I am willing to take up this challenge and give it my all.

The 2005-06 season involves hosting New Zealand and India, before travelling to New Zealand and Bangladesh.

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SERIES VS NEW ZEALAND

- New Zealand defeat Mashonaland by 7 wickets in a 3 day warm up match. Tuffey stars with 10 wickets.

FIRST TEST

Squad: Vermeulen, Carlisle, Goodwin, Mutyambizi, Maungwa, Ferreira (wk), Ewing, Streak (c), Price, Hondo, Rainsford, Johnson

New Zealand 460 (Richardson 176 Ewing 3-65 Price 3-119) and 1-55
defeated
Zimbabwe 190 (Ewing 63) and 324 (Maungwa 78 Hondo 62)

Comment: Not a bad effort from the boys considering the circumstances. We are never expected to compete against opposition of this quality and to force New Zealand to the 2nd session on Day 5 with no interruptions was pretty satisfactory. Our top order was pretty appalling, most of the runs came from half-centurys down around number 9 or 10. Credit to Mark Richardson for a fantastic innings. The next test will be interesting if we can make improvements.

SECOND TEST

Squad: No changes from 1st test

Zimbabwe 216 (Streak 62no Tuffey 4-56) and
251 (Vermeulen 59 Tuffey 6-65)
lost to
New Zealand 194 (Sinclair 70 Ewing 4-17 Price 3-62 Rainsford 3-46) and
4-274 (Richardson 79no Price 3-62)

- Disappointing result after a first innings lead. I was personally pumped for a victory, but the bowlers just couldn't finish the job at hand. We were beaten, and they lost just 4 wickets in the 2nd innings on a deteriorating pitch. The batsman struggle to make any pace with run rates, so the upcoming one day series may not be too pleasant

New Zealand win the series 2-0
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To be continued... (ODI's and further tours)

Mr. Kurns · Mar 20, 2006

Great stuff azza keep it up

langerrox · Mar 20, 2006

eeek lets see if you can do it!

jimbob · Mar 20, 2006

i like it so far, should be quite a challenge

Azza! · Mar 21, 2006

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ODI SERIES

Squad: Streak (c), Ferreira (wk), Vermeulen, Carlisle, Goodwin, Mutyambizi, Maungwa, Johnson, Strydom, Sims, Evans, Marillier, G. Ewing, Brent, B. Rogers, Price, Hondo, Rainsford

Game 1:
Zimbabwe 9-198 (50ov) (Vermeulen 50 Strydom 50)
lost to
New Zealand 2-201 (47.5) (McMillan 83* Oram 69)

- A plus to come out of today is that we made New Zealand work for their win. The opening partnerships were alright, we were sitting at about 1-100 from 25 overs, but a major collapse caused a change of plans and instability in the innings. There were only 5 batsman that reached double figures, so the standouts didn't have any backup scores. Streak, Rainsford and Ewing bowled well, tight, conceding about 3 an over each, but were let down by the expensive spells from slow left armer Ray Price and medium pacer Gavin Brent. Overall, a pretty satisfying game, we seem to be improving over the series, it will be very nice to get a win in if possible!

Game 2:
New Zealand 7-201 (50) (Astle 89no McMillan 62 Rainsford 3-29)
defeated
Zimbabwe 162 (47.1) (Strydom 65 Oram 4-24)

- A stellar opening spell from Eddie Rainsford saw the Kiwis at 4-31 after 10 overs. We had a massive edge early, but was let down by the spinners and a 106 run partnership from Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan. Astle tore us apart, and simply brought the boys back to reality. And now the third ODI gives us nothing to play for, however 2-1 on the scoreboard will look a lot better than a whitewash, so hopefully the boys will give it their all.

Game 3:
New Zealand 299-7 (50) (Sinclair 76 Oram 61)
defeated
Zimbabwe 274 (47.2) (Vermeulen 79 Evans 52 O'Brien 4-52)

- This was VERY frustrating and disappointing. We were off to an amazing start with the bat, going from 2-156 after 20 overs, to 5-216 off 30 overs... You would think 84 off 120 balls with 7 wickets left was easily gettable. Scored 43 off 30-40 overs, to be 5-259. 41 needed off 60. And the next 5 overs were a nightmare. We scored 3-11 and collapsed bigtime. No top 7 batsman (bar Maungwa) scored below 25, so at least there were promising signs. The top and middle order stepped up a gear, considering the amount of pressure that needing to chase 300 presents. I am now looking forward to the challenge of hosting India, and am hoping a few of our prospects can fire and possibly take a win, as India are a lot lower ranked than New Zealand.

New Zealand wins the series 3-0

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Azza! · Mar 21, 2006

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We are to host India for 2 Tests and 3 ODI's. Bringing the New Zealand series into the picture, and given India are ranked higher than New Zealand in tests but about 5 places lower in one dayers, it should be interesting. I am expecting the tests to be very one-sided, and might to get the ol' prayer book out and kneel to the heavens a fair bit. Our bowlers know they have to work hard, myself and the trainers have been concentrating on them in the nets and out in the scenarios at the Queens Sports Club in Harare. Ray Price has told me he is pumped and ready to go, a good sign as he has never been this confident since he was dropped from the test side last season. Will need to see a good performance from him, and the openers. Heath Streak's experience and return from injury should come very handy.

TEST SERIES

Squad: Streak (c), Marillier (wk), Vermeulen, Carlisle, Mutyambizi, Maungwa, Evans, Goodwin, Rainsford, Ewing, Price. 12th man: N. Johnson

1st Test:
India 2-605 dec. (Ganguly 316no, Tendulkar 185, Price 2-232)
drew with
Zimbabwe 263 (Maungwa 93) and 9-323 (Mutyambizi 62, Maungwa 52)

- We really did not deserve a draw for this. Our bowlers were whacked around the park by Sourav Ganguly as he knocked up a triple century from 500 odd balls. He hit 42 fours in a stunning display, and could easily have gone past 400 without a doubt. This innings included a 2nd wicket partnership of 403 with Sachin. Ray Price dug his way into the record books with the most runs conceded in a test innings, overtaking Brett Lee.
I thought we batted really well against a full strength bowling attack. Everyone reached double figures in the 2nd innings, a feat not seen since I took the reins of the side. We were helped by almost 5 hours of rain interruptions (Yes the heavens answered our prayers!), but some solid defense from Maungwa and Neil Evans salvaged a draw. Day 5 was tense, we lost just 7 wickets on the day. The 9th wicket was lost on the 2nd last ball of the day, so no. 11 Eddie Rainsford was chaired off the ground by the boys for keeping out a full blooded blockhole yorker from Lakshmipathy Balaji. It was a job well done by the batsman, but the bowling really needs to lift to first class standard.

Squad for 2nd test: Unchanged

2nd Test:
India 4-611 dec. (Sehwag 260 Ganguly 129 Dravid 122 Streak 2-93) and
0-61 (Sehwag 43no Ganguly 16no)
defeated
Zimbabwe 374 (Ewing 107 Mutyambizi 77 Harbhajan 6-117) and
296 (Ewing 88 Carlisle 58 Harbhajan 4-97)

- We batted well once again and made them bat twice after being forced to follow on, but again conceded close to 700 runs and took a measly 4 wickets. This is a considerable problem that needs to be eradicated as soon as possible. To add salt to the wound, our young opening bowler Eddie Rainsford is to miss the one dayers and possibly not tour New Zealand with a recurring back problem. This is tragic for him at only the age of 20, and he has already missed weeks with the same problem. Credit to Virender Sehwag for a superb innings. If we can improve the bowling, the one dayers should be competitive. I think a few bowlers heads will be on the chopping block come selection time.

India win the series 2-0
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ODI SERIES:

Squad - Preferred XI: Streak (c), Ferreira (wk), Vermeulen, Carlisle, Ewing, Goodwin, Mutyambizi, Maungwa, Blignaut, Gripper, G. Brent
Squad - Subs: Strydom, Brewer, Marillier (2wk), Hoffman, Price, Hondo, Mbangwa

Game 1:
India 7-240 (50) (Dharmani 69no Sehwag 57 Gripper 2-33)
defeated
Zimbabwe 83 (19.0) (Goodwin 16 G Singh 3-16 Balaji 3-17)

- An appalling effort from the batsman. These performances are what is expected by the public, as they have a reputation for big losses and low scores, but I know from previous games that they CAN do better. India don't have the strongest bowling frontline in the world, and aren't close to it, but the boys played some horrible shots and pretty much threw away the game. This is a bigger challenge than I expected, and am going to have to do some hard work on the fellas if we are to compete against Bangladesh later this year.

To be continued... - The ODI Series against India and the tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh

bulletproof nun · Mar 21, 2006

Great work azza

this has inspired me to give Zimbabwee a whirl. Lets see how long it takes me to win a match!!

Wildwil · Mar 21, 2006

Keep it up Azza

Azza! · Mar 22, 2006

Yeah I tell ya what, I'll be ecstatic when I get a victory against another International side!!
I recommend giving Zimbabwe or maybe Bangladesh (preferrably Zim) a go on normal difficulty (not easy :P) as it is a big challenge and really tests your skill as a manager.

Will probably release another installment in the next few hours.

Azza! · Mar 22, 2006

Game 2:
Zimbabwe 4-231 (50) (Mutyambizi 59no Carlisle 56)
lose to
India 2-235 (47.3) (Tendulkar 59no Sehwag 58)

- The same old patterns are replayed over and over. I think I have discovered the right tactics for batting with the boys. They need to preserve wickets and still score at about 4 an over, as they tend to lose wickets quickly towards the end when they tee off. I gave that tactic a go this game and it worked. 230 is a reasonable score for the quality of the batsman, we just couldn't provide with the ball once again. The openers bowled reasonably well; Heath Streak was expensive while Gavin Ewing was tight with his off-spin.

Game 3:
India 3-324 (50) (Ganguly 125 Tendulkar 100no Gripper 2-76)
defeated
Zimbabwe 184 (41.3) (Streak 53 Salvi 4-52)

- I take most of the blame for this thrashing by electing to bowl first. It was a batting pitch and I really should have used the conditions when I had the opportunity. Ganguly tore up our bowlers and Sachin blasted an 81 ball century. So once again we go home empty handed. It's off to New Zealand and trying to gain some confidence out of that for the more important matches against Bangladesh, since they can replace us at the bottom of the table if we win the test series.

India win the series 3-0

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In other ICC news: Couldn't help noticing a quite special innings from one Freddie Flintoff against Karachi Whites.
England declared at 6-622, with Flintoff blasting 225no off 251 balls, with 34 fours and 2 sixes. Geraint Jones smacked 146 off 122 with 22 fours and a 6. Pietersen cruised to 117 off 141 balls with 19 fours. Even Giles played a part, hitting 49no off 47 balls with 7 fours and a 6. He also took 7 wickets for the match, with 5 to Tremlett, 4 each to Harmison and Flintoff.

Azza

Azza! · Mar 26, 2006

The tour of New Zealand

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TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

Well, we're down to round 2 of the fight against New Zealand. I can safely say we were humiliated at home, and after the demoralising thrashing by the Indians, there won't be any improvements here.

My goals for the tour:
- Draw the test series
- Win an ODI
(or)
- Restrict New Zealand to less than 3 wicket or 50 run win in every match
- A century in each test and 2 fiftys in each ODI
- At least 15 wickets in each test and 6 wickets in each ODI

Squad: N/A

Itinerary:
Three day friendly vs Central Districts
2 Tests vs New Zealand
3 ODIs vs New Zealand

Central Districts 557 (Sinclair 125 Oram 105 West 104 Mbangwa 4-143)
drew with
Zimbabwe 200 (Streak 40no) and 4-122 (Vermeulen 33 Maungwa 33)

- I made a few errors in selecting the side. I thought this side would be a lot easier to bowl out and went into the side with only 4 bowlers, all quicks. This gave them a very heavy workload for a warm-up game, bowling an average of 39 overs each. They were smacked around, and Central Districts did what they wanted to do: Give us as little batting practice as possible. And when our batsman had the chance, most of them looked rusty and couldn't deliver the scores, with most scoring about 20-30, at most. It's simply not international quality and I'm starting to think we will get routed in Bangladesh. Poor preparation for the test series.

1st Test: New Zealand 586 (Richardson 176 Fleming 94 Sinclair 92 Mbangwa 5-131)
drew with
Zimbabwe 277 (Brewer 69 Tuffey 6-90) and 2-209 (Carlisle 59 Streak 49no Goodwin 47no)

- We were quite brutally beaten around with the ball, but if I may try and take positives out of this game, we showed some solid defence with the bat. The first innings lasted 140 overs, the second we lost 2 wickets in 89 overs. I experimented by putting the skipper Heath Streak up to number 3. I noticed he would hold the innings up with defence when we had collapsed, so I thought if I put him at first drop in the 2nd innings it would help our campaign for a draw. It paid off, with him surviving for over 7 hours, and still undefeated at stumps. It was a true captains knock, and he will stay at 3 if he continues to show these qualities.

2nd Test: New Zealand 395 (Oram 88 Streak 5-103) and 1-135dec. (McMillan 65no Richardson 52no)
drew with
Zimbabwe 229 (Goodwin 44 Vermeulen 39) and 2-147 (Carlisle 61no)

- We employed our defensive qualities in the 2nd innings and played for a drawn series. They regained the trophy, but I'm proud that we didn't actually lose the series. Our bowlers improved a bit in the first innings, bowling them out for a much more respectable total. Just couldn't bowl tight enough. Our first innings with the bat was simply not good enough. It put us on the back foot, forcing us to play for the draw again. But it was an improvement on having to follow on.

Test Series is drawn 0-0

In other ICC news: MILESTONES - Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan both pass the landmark 1000 first class wickets. Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Brian Lara each pass 21,000 first class runs.

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ODI SERIES

Squad: N/A

Game 1:
Zimbabwe 6-294 (50) (Vermeulen 127 Carlisle 91)
defeated
New Zealand 250 (45.4) (Oram 66 Fleming 64 Hondo 4-34)

- We have finally done it!!! Our first victory of season 2005-06, and we couldn't have done it in better style! Vermeulen and Stuart Carlisle put the innings on a massive foundation with an opening partnership of 211 off as many balls, Vermeulen knocking up a stunning century, with Carlisle deserving to reach triple figures. We put the pressure on New Zealand, and after starting slow, they were under the pump. After the first 3 wickets fell, they were not comfortable. Douglas Hondo bowled a great spell of seam, swing and changes of pace, as they lost their last 5 wickets for 26 runs. There were scenes of jubilation around the ground and in the streets of Bulawayo as the fans celebrated. We know have the edge in the 3 game series, and hope this isn't just a one-off.

Game 2:
Zimbabwe 206 (49) (Streak 82 Bond 4-48)
lose to
New Zealand 7-208 (49) (McMillan 50)

- We were so close to taking out the series, but we definitely didn't lose without a fight. They had to work very hard for the runs, and I believe we were 10 runs short of a victory. The Heath Streak at number 3 experiment paid off again, and I believe it is a successful move. I am willing to say we are in with a good chance of winning this series.

Game 3:
New Zealand 4-206 (50) (Oram 92no Mbangwa 3-44)
defeated
Zimbabwe 185 (48.1) (Streak 32 Blignaut 31)

- We were so close, yet so far. The series was snatched away, but I am proud of the boys for providing New Zealand with very tough competition, as Stephen Fleming mentioned when he collected the trophy in front of a small crowd of 6000 people at Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington. This was the boost of form we need to defeat Bangladesh. Am looking forward to the series that decides bottom of the table.

New Zealand win the Series 2-1

Photos: Mark Vermeulen smacks a 6 in his century in the win against New Zealand (top), Ray Price works hard in the nets to find a spot in the squad against Bangladesh (middle), and Gavin Ewing is bowled for 10 as New Zealand snatch the series at Bulawayo (bottom)

smssia0112 · Mar 28, 2006

I just gave em a go, won my first match!

Azza! · Mar 28, 2006

Good stuff.. how'd ya do it?
My current record is 1 win, 2 draws and 12 losses.. hehehe

Cowburn199 · Mar 31, 2006

I will give Zimbawbe a go in about 5 minutes. I will get back to you with the result

EDIT
I won by 3 wickets! Zimbawbe performed excellent

treva · Mar 31, 2006

This has inspired me to give Bangladesh a go and write about it in a new topic.

great work Azza

Story Azza manages Zimbabwe :O [ICC 2005]

Azza!

Club Cricketer

Mr. Kurns

International Coach

langerrox

International Coach

jimbob

Club Cricketer

Azza!

Club Cricketer

Azza!

Club Cricketer

bulletproof nun

School Cricketer

Wildwil

International Cricketer

Azza!

Club Cricketer

Azza!

Club Cricketer

Azza!

Club Cricketer

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smssia0112

Chairman of Selectors

Azza!

Club Cricketer

Cowburn199

International Coach

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treva

ICC Chairman

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