da dobrowin： Zimbabwe cricket plumbed new depths today as the national side curled up anddied against a vibrant Kenyan team, who beat them overwhelmingly for thefirst time by seven wickets
da premier bet： John Ward15-Mar-2003Zimbabwe cricket plumbed new depths today as the national side curled up anddied against a vibrant Kenyan team, who beat them overwhelmingly for thefirst time by seven wickets.Both teams got exactly what they deserved – and Zimbabwe know it. Kenya,the associate member, were vibrant and enthusiastic, inspired by theirappearances in the Super Sixes. Zimbabwe, the full member, far moreexperienced, demonstrated once again their genius for choking when thepressure is on. They could scarcely have done more to prove to the cricketworld that they only reached the Super Sixes thanks to politics and the helpof the weather.I wrote before the match that Zimbabwe were likely to find Kenya tougheropponents in this match than ever before, especially in view of their owntemperamental inadequacies when under pressure. But their incompetence onthe day proved far greater than I, or anybody else except the Kenyans,imagined. They should have forgotten their task of having to beat bothKenya and Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals, forgotten that they werefavourites to beat Kenya (a label they also find pressurizing) and followedthe Kenyan approach as stated by their captain Steve Tikolo: just to ‘go outthere and enjoy it’.Enjoying the game did not seem to come into Zimbabwe’s game plan in theslightest. Coach Geoff Marsh will have to get used to the idea that theaverage Zimbabwean cricketer is a very different animal from the Australian.We may hate to admit it, refuse to admit it, but he suffers from lowself-confidence and an inferiority complex against more renowned oppositionand is therefore liable to crack under pressure. This has been the sadstory of this country’s cricket from the beginning to the present time.Kenya is not a more renowned country, but the match was played in a pressuresituation. And Kenya handled it infinitely better than Zimbabwe did.Geoff Marsh has paid tribute to the work ethic of the Zimbabwean players,and their commitment to hard work is admirable and never in question. Ifthe English players showed similar commitment they would not be humiliatedby the Australians time and again. But it is inside the head that thingsare wrong. There is the odd exception, like Andy Flower, who has the mentalstrength to rise above that morass of inferiority. But even he has beenunable to find a disciple in the Zimbabwe team able to emulate him.I don’t know how effective sports psychology and counselling would be. Theattitude of sportsmen reflects the society in which they live. Togeneralize, Australian society is aggressive, brash and self-confident,based on the “I can do it” state of mind; Zimbabwean society is meek,self-effacing, easily overawed and liable to tear down those who do believethe “I can do it” philosophy. Major brainwashing of young adults who havebeen brought up in this way is difficult.In the short term, an ‘enjoyment’ philosophy like that so successfullyemployed by the Kenyans looks the best solution. Zimbabwe play their bestcricket that way, when they take the pressure off themselves and just go outto enjoy the moment, to play every game as if it were the last – thesuccessful Andy Bichel philosophy.In the early days of Test cricket the Zimbabwe players there revelled intheir new opportunities, as Alistair Campbell and the Flowers surelyremember. They played within their limitations, but put their whole heartsinto the game without getting grandiose ideas. They were alwayscompetitive, even if they lost. For the time being, this is all Zimbabwecan realistically hope for.After India’s loss to Australia, some of the players’ houses were stoned andthey knew that if they did not do a great deal better, very quickly, theyand their families would be in serious physical danger. Zimbabweans facelittle more than cold contempt from their disillusioned supporters when theyplay badly. If India could revive so thoroughly under so much pressure,what does that say about Zimbabwe?South Africa played grim cricket this World Cup, and were knocked out in thefirst round. Zimbabwe’s cricket has been, by and large, equally carewornand pressurized. It hasn’t worked, guys! Think again about your approach!Incredibly, in view of the wide gulf in experience between the two teams, itwas Kenya who showed more cricketing nous on the field in this match. Theysoon discovered that the pitch was slow and the ball did not come on to thebat, and adjusted accordingly. They pitched the ball up, bowled line andlength, and waited for the Zimbabwe batsmen to get themselves out. Theywere never disappointed for long, as the Zimbabweans were only too eager todo so.Andy Flower alone showed much idea of how to assess the pitch and play onit. He scored nearly half the total, and where would we have been withouthim. It seems we are soon to find out. Last month he refused to answer myquery about his future plans, saying instead he would wait for theauthorities to make a statement at the right time. It seems he has nowbypassed the local press and told an international agency that he is leavingZimbabwe cricket after the World Cup. We are surely in for a dismal timeunless we can find somebody somewhere to put his hand up in the Australianstyle and take on the same responsibility.It was most patriotic of Brian Murphy and Mark Vermeulen to injurethemselves and thus allow the selectors to recall Alistair Campbell hastilyto the team. Unfortunately Campbell, out of practice and probably notmentally adjusted to the sudden recall, failed, but at least he did notthrow his wicket away this time. Many others in the side are more culpable.Even Tatenda Taibu seemed to be caught up in the miasma that Zimbabwecricket can so easily become, and he batted without his usual sparkle andwithout success.Martin Suji did the early damage with the first three wickets. CraigWishart and Grant Flower both fell to quite unnecessary and inappropriateattacking strokes. They know Suji is Kenya’s best bowler. Why wasn’t thegame plan simply to see him off, push him for singles where possible and totake big runs off the lesser bowlers? But none of Flower’s partnersappeared to be looking to push the score along with singles at all. Wasthere no game plan, or did the pressure situation reduce the IQ to the samelevel as the current air temperature in Europe and North America?Amid all the poor strokes and soft dismissals we had a stupid run-out. AndyFlower called for a single, Andy Blignaut raced down the pitch in support,only for Flower to change his mind. We then had a foot race between Flowerand Blignaut to reach the crease at the keeper’s end, narrowly won byFlower. There was speculation and even ignorance shown in the commentarybox as to which player should be given out, as the keeper casually joggeddown the pitch to remove the bails at the bowler’s end. The simple fact wasthat as Blignaut was the last to reach safety in the far crease, he was theone to go.Both batsmen, it was clear, were keen on self-preservation at the expense ofthe other. Flower could argue that, as he was the senior batsman and wellset, it was in the interests of the team that he should not be the one togo. But he did leave his partner right up the creek without a paddle.Blignaut had no such considerations as he tried in vain to reach safetybefore Flower did. Had he put the team first, he would then have walkedstraight off the field whether he thought he was out or not, so the seniorbatsman could continue. The incident reflected poorly on both players, andI hope is not an indication of team spirit – or lack of – in the side.Kenya did start their reply uncertainly. In the first few overs, Zimbabwemanaged to drop two catches and had a genuine catch at the wicket rejected,as umpire Venkat continued his remarkable record of umpiring errors at theexpense of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.But it should have been obvious that Zimbabwe’s only hope of victory was totake wickets at all costs. Kenya could hardly fail to reach their meagretarget unless they were completely bowled out. So – pack the slips andgully area and attack! But again Zimbabwe hedged their bets, sethalf-hearted field placings and paid the penalty, as several potentialchances found no eager hands awaiting them. Batting, bowling or fielding,true self-belief was lacking, although there was good bowling from Streakand Blignaut.Although the Kenyans had shown that the pitch was of no help to pace, it wastoo late to influence the result when Streak finally resorted to spin. Bythen Kenya had overcome their own nerves and in a flurry of superb strokeswon the match at a canter. Zimbabwe may never find them easy victims again.As Zimbabwe are on their way down, Kenya are on their way up. It will behard for the ICC to deny them Test status after reaching the semi-finals ofthe World Cup, and also unjust. I am just afraid that, because Test cricketis such a different game and their players are so unused to that version,that they will get humiliated, as Bangladesh have been. They may also haveto pay a harsh price for ICC neglect in the longer version of the game inthe recent past.But it seems Kenya are a much more confident team than Bangladesh, andhopefully will recover and learn quickly. Certainly psychologically thereis no better time than the present, when their confidence is at an all-timehigh and they still have their experienced top players in their prime. Ijust hope they realize that Test status will expose them to a mercilesslearning curve and that confidence and enthusiasm will make much less of animpact when faced with the vast experience of other nations in the Testarena – even hapless Zimbabwe, who cannot even like Sri Lanka useoverconfidence as an excuse for today’s fiasco.Zimbabwe have one final match to play, against Sri Lanka on Saturday, andsince all hope of a semi-final place is gone, we may expect them perhaps toplay a bit better. Possibly they might even decide that playing World Cupcricket can be an enjoyable experience after all. The match might be quitemeaningless, if New Zealand beat India on Friday. Otherwise the pressurewill all be on the Sri Lankans, who are unreliable in such situations, buthave a better track record than Zimbabwe. As indeed do most teams,unfortunately.If any Zimbabwean players read this article and are offended by it, theanswer is simple. Prove me wrong by coming up trumps in a genuine pressuresituation at international level, and do it with a reasonable consistency.We do have occasional high spots – Doug Marillier in India, Heath Streak inNew Zealand, Grant Flower against Pakistan, Henry Olonga in the last WorldCup – but these are isolated moments of individual glory.We need an overall change in mentality. I would be only too delighted to beproved wrong. But, based on the bitter evidence of years, I may have towait a long time.
