Tour of Zimbabwe 2001-02         Captain: Shaun Pollock

30th official test tour

Third Test-playing tour of Zimbabwe by South Africa

     (September 2001)

Despite fears for the safety of the South African team owing to unrest in Zimbabwe, the tour went ahead, being approved on 14 August.  As a two-Test series, it qualified for the ICC Test Championship, whereas on the two previous tours of Zimbabwe a single Test match was played.

The formidable South African batting line-up overwhelmed the Zimbabwe bowling: the first innings at Harare reached 600 for 3 declared, with Kirsten scoring a double century; while at Bulawayo the team score was 519-8 declared.  Kallis, although slow, scored 388 runs without being dismissed and batted for 1028 minutes. The bowling attack was not at its best  but dealt with the Zimbabweans in the end, except for Flower who scored even more than Kallis.

Other South African tours

Previous Tour

West Indies 2000-01

Next tour

Australia 2001-02

Next tour of Zimbabwe

   None scheduled

Members of the Test tour party (13)

Opening batsmen  Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs

Middle-order batsmen  Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Neil McKenzie

Wicket-keeper   Mark Boucher

All-rounders: Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener

Spin bowlers  Claude Henderson

Fast bowlers  Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt.

Representation of teams:   

Bo  -  Boland (1)

Br - Border (2)

E -  Easterns (1)

EP - Eastern Province (1)

FS  -  Free State (1)

KZN - Kwa Zulu-Natal (2)

No  -  Northerns (1)

WP - Western Province (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(7 September 2001) :

       26 yrs 9 months

ODI   Member of the squad for one-day series

Test Appearances made before the tour

Kirsten 73,  Pollock 56,  Kallis 50,  Boucher 42,  Klusener 42,  Gibbs 28,  Ntini 15,  McKenzie 14,  Dippenaar 7,  Ackerman 4,  Kemp 3,  Henderson 0,  Langeveldt  0,  Nel 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Rushdie Magiet (convenor of selectors),  Hylton Ackerman,  Morice Garda,  Gerald Majola,  Graeme Pollock, Mike Procter.

Selection

The squad was selected so that a minimum of one player of colour could be included in each match.

Unavailable: Daryll Cullinan (knee injury); Nantie Hayward  ( ); Mfuneko Ngam (shoulder); Nicky Boje (shoulder and knee).

Tour Party Announced:  13 August 2001.

Not selected : Gulam Bodi

Withdrawal:  On 3 September Allan Donald (FS) dropped out of the tour because of a serious flu strain, and was replaced by Charl Langeveldt.

Ackerman was then added to the squad, also on 3 September, as a stand-by for Kirsten who was suffering with a stiff neck.

The National Selection Committee met again on 24 September to choose the team for the second and third one-day internationals, and made no changes as Donald was still suffering from flu.

Time between selection and departure from South Africa

  23 days

(13 August to 5 September)

Travel

The South Africans had a week-long training camp before leaving on the tour.

On Wednesday 5 September the team flew from Johannesburg and landed in Harare.

Time spent in Zimbabwe

   26 days

(5 September - 1 October)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Ackerman was named as a stand-by for Kirsten who was suffering with a stiff neck on 3 September and travelled to Harare with the team.  He was not needed and returned home to captain South Africa A.

Ontong and Rhodes joined the team for the one-day international series.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in Zimbabwe before First Test:   2 days

(5 September - 7 September)

Test appearances on tour

2  -  Boucher,  Dippenaar, Gibbs,  Henderson,  Kallis,  Kirsten,  Klusener,  McKenzie,  Nel,  Ntini,  Pollock

0  -  Kemp,  Langeveldt.

Highlights

•   In the first innings of the series Gibbs (147) and Kirsten (220) added 256 for the first wicket.

•   Kirsten and Kallis (157*) then added a further 199 for the 2nd wicket.

•   Gibbs and Kirsten started the South African innings at Bulawayo with another century stand (117).

•   Kallis added a further undefeated century (149* in the second Test at Bulawayo. He therefore scored 388 Test runs without being dismissed over 1028 minutes, a world record.

•   Claude Henderson was the leading wicket-taker with 11 victims, but at an average of more than 30.

Tour Summary

Return to South Africa

Ackerman and Langeveldt were replaced for the ODI series and returned home.

The team departed for home from Harare on 1 October 2001.

Time away from South Africa    26 days  

(5 September to 1 October)