Zimbabwe Tour of Australia 2011
Tour Preview
Today, Zimbabwe, led by Brendan Taylor, embark on their first test tour in six years. It would be impossible not to improve on the diabolical season of 2005, but there couldn't be a tougher place to go for your comeback tour than Australia. Zimbabwe will have to hope that their young squad will be able to stand up to the rigours of playing against the team which, until recently, have been number one in the world for almost ten years.
Watch Out For
At just 25 years of age, Brendan Taylor has already accumulated a wealth of international experience. In 118 ODIs, he has scored three centuries against top eight teams. With twelve tons and an average of almost 40 in his 65 first class matches, it is clear that he knows how to build an innings. Alongside him in the top order will be Craig Ervine who scored 231 runs at almost 40 in the recently concluded World Cup, including three excellent half centuries. His brother played test matches for Zimbabwe too, and Craig has the highest first class average of any current Zimbabwean Batsman.
Strengths and Weaknesses
With four of them in their squad, it looks like Zimbabwe will be relying heavily on spin bowling. Ray Price (left arm), Prosper Utseya (off spin), Graeme Cremer (leg spin) and Timycen Maruma (googlies) each offer something completely different to the bowling attack. They have 326 international appearances between them, including 25 test matches, and Price was for a while the number one ODI bowler in the world. However, the strength in the spin bowling leaves them somewhat unprepared for the fast, bouncy wickets of Australia. Their lack of quality seamers could really count against them when push comes to shove. They only have three regular seamers in their squad: Tendai Chatara, Shingi Masakadza and Keegan Meth, who have only fifteen international wickets between them. They could end up relying heavily on Elton Chigumbura who is also key to the batting department.
Tour Predictions
Observers tend to expect Zimbabwe to be comprehensively whitewashed by the Australians. Indeed, it is difficult to see where, if anywhere, they are stronger than the hosts, and it could be a long and difficult tour.
Fixtures
T20I - Australia v Zimbabwe at Melbourne
ODIs - Australia v Zimbabwe at Brisbane
ODIs - Australia v Zimbabwe at Adelaide
ODIs - Australia v Zimbabwe at Perth
Test - Australia v Zimbabwe at Sydney
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Thanks to Zaxotes for the logos.
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