| Tour of England 2000 Captain: Andy Flower | |
| | | | |
| Zimbabwe’s eleventh Test
tour First Test-playing tour of England by Zimbabwe (April -
July 2000) | The England and
Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Zimbabwe Cricket Union held discussions
with the Foreign Office about the tour because of President Mugabe seizing
white-owned farms. War veterans and landless villagers had invaded hundreds
of white-owned farms in the last two months. It was agreed that the tour
would go ahead on 13 April, only a fortnight before the first match. Even as
it started the threat to cut the tour short grew as players’ concerns were
aired about playing cricket while friends and relatives in Zimbabwe were
in a dire situation. Beaten
heavily in the first Test but achieving a respectable draw in the second at
Trent Bridge, the team was resurgent in the second part of the tour and
managed to beat the West Indies for the first time in any form of cricket in
the ODI at Bristol. As confidence grew,
Zimbabwe went on to win
all three one-day matches against West Indies
in the NatWest tri-series. . | Other Zimbabwe
tours Previous
tour West Indies 1999-00 Next
tour India 2000-01 Next
tour of England 2003 | |
| Members of the Test tour party (17) Opening batsmen: Trevor Gripper, Neil Johnson, Grant Flower Middle-order batsmen: Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dirk Viljoen,
Murray Goodwin, Guy Whittall. Wicket-keepers:Andy Flower, Tatenda Taibu Slow bowlers:Brian Murphy Fast bowlers:Gary Brent,
Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Mluleki Nkala, Henry Olonga, Bryan Strang, Heath
Streak. | G B Brent | Msh | 24 | RFM | ODI | | A D R Campbell | Msh | 27 | LHB | ODI | | S V Carlisle | Msh | 28 | RHB | ODI | | A Flower | Msh | 32 | LHB WK captain | ODI | | G W Flower | Msh | 29 | RHB
opener SLA | ODI | | M W Goodwin | Msh | 27 | RHB | ODI | | T R Gripper | Mat | 24 | RHB
opener | | | N C Johnson | Mat | 30 | LHB
RFM | ODI | | M Mbangwa | Mat | 23 | RFM | ODI | | B A Murphy | Msh | 23 | LBG | | | M L Nkala | Mat | 19 | RFM | ODI | | H K Olonga | Mat | 23 | RF | ODI | | B C Strang | Msh | 27 | RFM | ODI | | H H Streak | Mat | 26 | RFM
RHB vice-captain | ODI | | T Taibu | Msh | 17 | WK | | | D P Viljoen | Msh | 23 | LHB SLA | ODI | | G J Whittall | Mat | 27 | RHB RM | ODI | | | Joined the tour party for the | J A Rennie (Mat) | ODI |
one-day internationals | P A Strang
(CFX) | ODI | | | C B Wishart ( - ) | ODI |
| Representation from district teams: CFX
- Academy Mat
- Matabeleland (7) Msh
- Mashonaland (10)
Average
age of team at time of first Test match (18
May 2000): 25
yrs 8 months ODI Member of squad for the ODI National
Westminster Bank series Key to type: RHB
Right-handed bat RM Right arm medium-paced bowler RFM Right-arm fast medium OB Off break WK Wicket-keeper | |
| Test Appearances made before the tour | Campbell 41, A Flower 41, G Flower 40, Whittall G 31, Streak 29,
Strang B 20, Goodwin 17,
Mbangwa 12, Johnson 11, Carlisle 8,
Gripper 6, Murphy 2, Nkala 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Dan
Stannard | Tour Manager | Andy
Pycroft | Interim
Coach | Amato Machikicho | Physiotherapist | Malcolm
P Jarvis | Fitness
trainer / computer analyst | Jeff
Thomson | Bowling
coach (1 May to 21 June) | Carl
Rackemann | Bowling
coach (one-day matches) |
Stannard had retired in 1996 as head of the Central Intelligence
Organisation, Mugabe's secret police. His agents
infiltrated rival political parties and broke up anti-government
demonstrations. Members of the cricket
tour party were worried that their families back home would be killed in farm
invasions and Stannard was to smooth the situation by assuring his young side
that all would be well. (www.scotsman.com Sunday
2 February 2003) Dave
Ellman-Brown, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s Chief Executive, was present in England during
the tour. | | |
| Selectors | Andy Pycroft (convenor
of selectors), ….. | | |
| Selection | Unavailable: Paul Strang (he was not confident about his
long-term forearm injury, although in the end he played league cricket for
Haslingden); Adam Huckle had
retired; Brian Murphy (returned to
University). Tour Party Announced : Not selected : Andy Whittall. Taibu, a 17 year-old Churchill High schoolboy, and
Nkala from the under-19 side and Viljoen from the CFX
Academy were retained for the England tour. | Time between selection and departure from Zimbabwe x days ( to 23 April) | |
| Travel Harare Q London | After
only three days at home recovering from the Caribbean tour the team flew back
to England
for another three-months on tour. They left Harare on Sunday 23 April. Some
players remained in England
from the West Indies tour. The team arrived
on 24 April and practised at Lord's the next day before travelling down to Southampton for their first match. Heath Streak
and coach Andy Pycroft did not arrive until Thursday 28 April because they
were helping their families move from the violence in the agricultural areas
to Bulawayo.
Guy Whittall, Gary Brent, Dirk Viljoen and Alistair Campbell were also farmers. | Time spent in England 91 days (24 April - 24 July) | |
| On-tour selection | Andy Pycroft (coach),
Andy Flower (captain), Heath Streak (vice-captain). | | |
| Reinforcements | Henry Olonga was sent home for a check-up on his ankle
injury and to get fit. He was cleared to play and returned for the triangular
series including West Indies but aggravated
the injury again in training. Tatenda Taibu was released to return to his
school education. John Rennie was brought in from Zimbabwe
on 10 July for the remaining ODI matches. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | Southampton | Hampshire | Drawn | b | Canterbury | Kent | Lost inns 163 r | c | † Hastings | Sussex | Won 8 w | d | † Chelmsford | Essex | Won 7 w | e | Chelmsford | Essex | Drawn | f | LORD'S | ENGLAND First Test | LOST
inns 209 r | g | Headingley | Yorkshire | Won 32 r | h | †Castleford | MCC | Won 22 r | i | TRENT BRIDGE | ENGLAND Second Test | DRAWN | j | † Clontarf, Dublin | Ireland | Won 49 r | k | † Clontarf, Dublin | Ireland | Won 5 w | l | Arundel | West Indies | Drawn | m | † Beaconsfield | England XI | Won 74
r | n | Gloucester | Gloucestershire | Won 524 r | o | Fenners | British Universities | Drawn | p | † Taunton | Somerset | Won 21 r | q | † Chester-le-Street | Durham | Won 8 w | r | †Trent Bridge | Nottinghamshire | Won 5 w | s | † Northampton | Northamptonshire | Lost 42 r | t | † Bristol | New Zealand 'A' | No result | u | § Bristol | West Indies (1st ODI) | Won 6 w | v | §The Oval
| England (2nd ODI) | Won 5 w | w | § Canterbury | West Indies (3rd ODI) | Won 70 r | x | § Old Trafford | England (4th ODI) | Lost 8 w | y | § Chester-le-Street | West Indies (5th ODI) | Won 6 w | z | § Edgbaston | England (6th ODI) | Lost 52 r | a’ | § Lord's | England (ODI final) | Lost 6 w |
See ‘Match Appearances’ below. | † not first-class. All the one-day matches were 50 overs. § ODI NatWest one-day
internationals Time spent in England
before First Test: 24 days (24 April - 18 May) | |
| Test appearances on tour | 2
- Campbell,
A Flower, G Flower, Goodwin,
Johnson, Mbangwa, Streak,
Whittall (G) 1
- Carlisle, Gripper,
Nkala, B Strang. 0
- Brent, Olonga,
Taibu, Viljoen, Wishart. | | |
| Highlights | • • • . | | |
| Tour Summary | | P | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | Other first-class matches | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | ϯ Minor matches | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | - | § One-day
internationals | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | - | All Matches | 27 | 15 | 6 | 6 | - |
| | |
| Return to Zimbabwe London Q Johannesburg | Olonga
returned to Zimbabwe
for a check-up on his ankle injury but was cleared to play in the one-day triangular.
But he aggravated the injury in training.
Brian Murphy returned to university in Cape Town immediately after the Test
matches to complete his degree. Tatenda Taibu returned to his school
education. When the
bowling coach Carl Rackemann arrived on 20 June, Jeff Thomson returned to Brisbane. The team arrived back in Harare on Tuesday 25 July at the end of a
five-month tour. | Time away from Zimbabwe 93 days
(23 April to 25 July) | |
| Match appearances | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z | a1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | G Brent | | | x | x | | | x | x | | | | | | | x | x | x | | x | x | o | o | | | | | | Campbell | x | | x | x | x | T | x | x | T | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Carlisle | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | T | | | | | | x | x | x | | x | x | | | o | o | o | o | o | A Flower | | | x | x | x | T | x | x | T | | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | G Flower | x | x | x | x | x | T | x | x | T | x | x | | x | x | | | | x | x | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Goodwin | x | x | x | x | x | T | x | x | T | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | x | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Gripper | x | x | | | x | T | | | | x | x | x | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Johnson | x | x | x | x | x | T | | x | T | x | x | x | | | x | x | x | x | x | | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Mbngwa | x | x | | | x | T | x | | T | x | x | x | x | x | | | x | | x | | | | | | | o | | Murphy | | | | | | T | | | T | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Nkala | | x | | x | | | x | x | T | | | x | | | | x | x | x | | x | o | | | | | | o | Olonga | x | | x | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | x | | | | | | | | | J Rennie | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o | | | B Strang | x | | x | x | | T | x | | | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | P Strang | | | | | | | | | | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | | x | | o | o | o | | | | Streak | | x | | | | T | | x | T | x | x | | x | x | x | x | | | x | | | | o | o | o | o | | Taibu | x | x | | | | | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Viljoen | | x | x | x | x | | | x | | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Whittall | x | x | x | | x | T | x | x | T | | | | | | x | x | x | x | x | x | o | o | o | o | o | o | o | Wishart | | | | | | | | | | x | | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | o | o | | | | | |
| |
| Finances | . The Zimbabwe players asked their
representative Andy Whittall to hold crisis meetings with the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union over low pay. The Sunday Mirror reported that their English
coach driver was the best-paid member of the squad and that the players would
most likely earn only £3000 a man from the tour. | | |
| Account of the tour | | | |
| Postscript | Although
the tour ended on a down-note, losing the final of the triangular against England, Andy
Pycroft, the caretaker coach, seemed to have improved the team’s confidence
and raised their game. Neil
Johnson quit Zimbabwe
cricket to join Western Province in South
Africa and Murray Goodwin went to live in Western Australia
where his sick mother was living. His wife also wanted to move to Australia.
Neither player was much impressed with the financial package being offered;
they proved to be a great loss to the national side just as it was making
some improvement | | |
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