| Tour of Zimbabwe 2001-02 Captain: Steve Waugh ? | |
| | Tour cancelled on 27 March | | |
| Intended to be part of Australia’s 72nd Test tour (April - May 2002) Would have been the second Test-playing tour of Zimbabwe by Australia (previously toured in October 1999) | This tour was planned to follow the one-day series in South Africa. On 20 March the Australian Cricket Board Chief Executive, James Sutherland, was cautious because of tensions in Zimbabwe following its presidential elections two weeks before. He said that the cricket tour of Zimbabwe would go ahead subject to concerns about safety. A week later, once the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade hadissued travel advice warning Australian nationals against visiting Zimbabwe, the tour was cancelled on 27 March. The Board felt there were unacceptable risks to the players and officials of encountering political violence, possibly stemming from the Australian government’s part in having Zimbabwe suspended from the Commonwealth. The Zimbabwe Cricket Union would not consider rescheduling the tour in a neutral country as this would amount to admitting that it was unsafe to tour Zimbabwe - where World Cup fixtures were to be held in a year’s time - and no other countries were available to take Australia’s place. | Other Australian Tours Previous tour South Africa 2001-02 Next tour v Pakistan in Sri Lanka and UAE 2002-03 Next tour of Zimbabwe 2004 (also cancelled) None scheduled since. | |
| Members of the named ODI tour party (15) Opening batsmen Matthew Hayden, Jimmy Maher. Middle-order batsmen: Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan Wicket-keeper:Adam Gilchrist All-rounders: Ian Harvey, Shane Watson Spin bowlers: Shane Warne, Nathan Hauritz Fast bowlers:Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath. | M G Bevan | NSW | 31 | LHB SLA | ODI | | A J Bichel | Qld | 31 | RFM | ODI | | A C Gilchrist | WA | 30 | WK LHB vice-captain | ODI | | J N Gillespie | SA | 26 | RFM | ODI | | M L Hayden | Qld | 30 | LHB opener | ODI | | I J Harvey | Vic | 30 | RHB RM | ODI | | N M Hauritz | Qld | 20 | OB | ODI | | B Lee | NSW | 25 | RF | ODI | | D S Lehmann | SA | 32 | LHB | ODI | | G D McGrath | NSW | 32 | RFM | ODI | | J P Maher | Qld | 28 | LHB opener | ODI | | D R Martyn | WA | 30 | RHB | ODI | | R T Ponting | Tas | 27 | RHB captain | ODI | | S K Warne | Vic | 32 | LBG | ODI | | S Watson | Tas | 20 | RHB RFM | ODI | |
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State representation Pura Cup teams NSW New South Wales (3) Qld Queensland (4) SA South Australia (2) Tas Tasmania (2) Vic Victoria (2) WA Western Australia (2) Average age of team at time of scheduled first Test match (25 April 2002) : 30 yrs 5 months. ODI member of one-day series squad v Zimbabwe | |
| Test Appearances made before the tour | Warne 101, McGrath 84, Ponting 56, Gillespie 33, Gilchrist 31, Hayden 30, Martyn 25, Lee 21, Bevan 18, Bichel 6, Lehmann 5, Harvey 0, Hauritz 0, Maher 0, Watson 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Steve Bernard | Tour manager | John Buchanan | Coach | Errol Alcott | Physiotherapist |
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| Selectors | Trevor Hohns (chairman), Allan Border, David Boon and Andrew Hilditch. | | |
| Selection | The names of players for the Test matches in Zimbabwe were never announced. Squad for one-day series announced: 4 March 2002. Ponting was named on 16 February as captain of the side to play the one-day matches. It seems likely that Steve Waugh would have been called back to take over the captaincy for the 2 Test matches. Test tour party due to be announced: approx 26 March 2002 | Time between selection for South Africa-Zimbabwe tour and departure from Australia 15 days (30 January - 14 February | |
| Travel Johannesburg Q Harare | The first match would have begun on Saturday 13 April 2002. | Time scheduled to spend in Zimbabwe 26 days (approx 12 April - 8 May) | |
| On-tour selection | Responsibility would have rested with the National Selection Panel. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | § Harare | Zimbabwe (1st ODI) | cancelled | b | § Harare | Zimbabwe (2nd ODI) | cancelled | c | § Bulawayo | Zimbabwe (3rd ODI) | cancelled | d | Kwekwe | Zimbabwe A | cancelled | e | HARARE | ZIMBABWE First Test | cancelled | f | BULAWAYO | ZIMBABWE Second Test | cancelled |
| § one-day internationals Time scheduled in Zimbabwe before First Test: 13 days (12 April - 25 April) | |
| Tour Summary | | P | W | L | D | Cancelled | Test Matches | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | Other first-class matches | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | § One-day internationals | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | All Matches | 6 | - | - | - | 6 |
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| Return to Australia | The last match would have ended in Bulawayo on Tues 7 May. | Time scheduled to be away from Australia for South Africa-Zimbabwe tour 83 days (14 February to 8 May) | |
| Finances | Travelex, the foreign exchange specialists, were the international tour partners of the Australian Cricket Board and had sponsored the tour. The Australian government had advised against travelling in Zimbabwe so the Australian Board did not have to compensate the Zimbabwe Cricket Union or I C C for not making the tour. | | |
| Postscript | Countries prevented “by force majeure” from completing international fixtures, or if directed by their governments not to do so, were not penalised by the ICC so this did not affect the Australians’ position in the ICC Test Championship rankings. | | |