Zimbabwe to return to Test cricket in 2011

[Owzat]

Zimbabwe target return to Test cricket after World Cup

Zimbabwe will play a home Test series against Bangladesh in May 2011 following a positive meeting with the International Cricket Council.

Chairman Peter Chingoka said: "We are developing a strong and competitive domestic competition as a result of the ICC task team's recommendations.

"We are now looking to make a gradual return to Test cricket after the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011."

Zimbabwe last played a Test against India in Harare in September 2005.

Chigoka added: "We will resume our Test commitments against Bangladesh at home in May 2011. We aim to make cricket the number one sport in Zimbabwe within the next five years."

Cricket in Zimbabwe has plunged from one crisis to another for much of the past 10 years.

In April 2004, Heath Streak was sacked as captain and when 15 white players also lost their jobs for backing Streak, the ICC investigated the Zimbabwe Cricket Union on the grounds of racism.

Though they found no wrongdoing, the extended crisis threatened the future of the game in the troubled southern African nation.

A self-imposed one-year suspension from Test cricket followed, but when Zimbabwe came back they were, if anything, even weaker and chaos at home continued.

In recent months, improvements have been noticeable in the one-day arena. They beat India twice and Sri Lanka once en route to last Wednesday's triangular series final in Harare, in which they were beaten by nine wickets after losing an important toss.

ICC president David Morgan said: "I take great pleasure in the number of smiling faces around Zimbabwe Cricket. It is very comforting for the ICC to observe the improvement and success of the Zimbabwe team in recent months."

BBC Sport - Cricket - Zimbabwe target return to Test cricket after World Cup

For me they may have the batting, but their bowling looks somewhat lacking. But this doesn't seem to be about whether they are good enough, more the politics that saw them drop out of the Test scene in the first place.

I assume the title is somewhat inaccurate as the series against Bangladesh seems quite definite - "Zimbabwe will play a home Test series against Bangladesh in May 2011.

Is this a good thing?

 

[ARay]

Well, I believe cricket should be a global sport and not just the elite countries playing. I think its an intrepid move by ICC, to bring back Zimbabwe to their Test status.

However, I think they should be phased into Test cricket. Maybe play more First class matches against A teams of the current test playing nation. This would give them more experience to tackle Test cricket. It would also be test for the bench strength of those A teams as well.
Test Cricket is all about being consistent, we know Zimbabwe on any given day cause trouble. But can they maintain it over 5 days is the question.

 

[riz7khan12]

what i predicted has just happened, but i didn't expect it to happen this fast. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe might be a close contest, depends on how Zimbabwe play their cricket from now on..

 

[TumTum]

:doh:doh:doh

 

[KBC]

One word.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aussie1st]

Well, I believe cricket should be a global sport and not just the elite countries playing.

I would say the first step is getting them more involved in the T20 and ODI arena. It'll take a while for any of the teams outside of the top 8 to make an impact in Test cricket.

 

[ShamiLoverGlipGlops]

A very good news on cricket's point of view... Now even Ireland must be included... But Ireland need series like Zimbabwe got against Srilanka and India.

Zimbabwe to played the first string West Indies and played beautifully but I feel Ireland have a major England Impact, where all their good players are taken. Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan etc. They still have many capable players but not consistent enough...

 

[Gilly Fan]

One word

Why? They've won what, one game ever in their history, and are still as corrupt a nation as they were when they were stripped of test status. I don't agree with it.

 

[Brook]

Surely the Netherlands if you're looking at other sides.

 

[riz7khan12]

Why? They've won what, one game ever in their history, and are still as corrupt a nation as they were when they were stripped of test status. I don't agree with it.

they were'nt stripped they themselves bowed out. and should be able to take back their test status now. and i would'nt anymore countries to get test status now 10 is enough. any other country which comes in (ireland,netherlands) will just degrade tests tbh.

 

[Owzat]

Will be too many sides, you can't just invite Oirland on the grounds that some people think they are a) good enough and b) as good or better than Zimbabwe facepalm

10 is already too many, 9 is too many. To introduce more without breaking the structure down so that fewer games are played would be plain stupid. Ireland would struggle as much as Bangladesh.

Test Nations

Bangladesh : P68 W3 D6 L59 (Lost 86.76%)
Zimbabwe : P83 W8 D26 L49 (Lost 59.04%)
New Zealand : P359 W68 D146 L145 (Lost 40.39%)
Sri Lanka : P192 W60 D63 L69 (Lost 35.94%)
South Africa : P351 W122 D105 L124 (Lost 35.33%)
West Indies : P463 W152 D157 L153 (Lost 33.05%)
India : P437 W104 D195 L137 (Lost 31.35%)
England : P899 W315 D325 L298 (Lost 28.81%)
Pakistan : P346 W104 D147 L95 (Lost 27.46%)
Australia : P721 W339 D194 L186 (Lost 25.80%)

Why, you may ask, have I gone for lost as the percentage? Because sides that constantly lose are not great for the sport, they need to win some and if they can't win many, then at least prove difficult to beat. I could as easily put the percentage of games not lost, this seems simpler and more emphatic. West Indies loss percentage in recent years would be a fairer reflection of their much declined performances/status/ability.

Last 50 Tests

Bangladesh : P50 W3 D5 L42 (Lost 84.00%)
Zimbabwe : P50 W5 D11 L34 (Lost 68.00%)
West Indies : P50 W4 D16 L30 (Lost 60.00%)
New Zealand : P50 W14 D11 L25 (Lost 50.00%)
Pakistan : P50 W13 D16 L21 (Lost 42.00%)
---------------------------------------------------
South Africa : P50 W26 D7 L17 (Lost 34.00%)
England : P50 W20 D16 L14 (Lost 28.00%)
Sri Lanka : P50 W25 D13 L12 (Lost 24.00%)
India : P50 W20 D20 L10 (Lost 20.00%)
Australia : P50 W34 D8 L8 (Lost 16.00%)

Zimbabwe have won more of their last 50 Tests than Bangladesh or West Indies. Six of New Zealand's wins were over Bangladesh, two each against Zimbabwe and West Indies. Australia's record includes SIXTEEN wins in a row, and pretty much follows on from the 2005 Ashes defeat. Despite India being ranked top they still draw too many Tests (40%)

In terms of a potential tier split, I think the above would be a fair way to do it, last 50 Tests and either by defeats or wins - ends up with the same split

And regards Zimbabwe, it shows their loss percentage is not that far off New Zealand's who are longer established as a Test nation (1930 vs 1992)

 

[angryangy]

Zimbabwe's last 50 Tests were played between 1999 and 2005. Sure, the team that boasted Andy Flower and Heath Streak had it's moments, but does not indicate much of the current team or the current system. More to the point, how much future stability does Zimbabwe cricket have? The economy is still years from recovery and that leaves cricket as a pastime for increasingly few. Do they have the capacity to produce another generation of good cricketers or have they merely alleviated the decline? Will they have to spend another 5 years developing their next Test squad?

 

[Aditya]

Would be good to see Zimbabwe playing test matches. They have certainly improved a lot. But the worrying factor is that, can Zimbabwe players survive in the longer format? A player who plays in test matches obviously needs to be fit. Zimbabwe doesn’t have much "good" players, who have capability to play for the national team playing in their domestic circuit. But still it's good to see them stepping forward and trying to be a good test team as well. They still need to prove themselves in odi's and t20's but they are improving and in future they can really turn out to be a good team if not the best.

 

[blake]

but they are improving and in future they can really turn out to be a good team if not the best.

That's pushing it a little, don't you think?

 

[khalek]

They should be welcomed if they want to come back and Bangladesh really need to pull up their socks now.