Tour of West Indies 2005-06         Captain: Terrence Duffin

 Test programme cancelled

Would have been :

Zimbabwe’s 21st Test tour

Would have been :

Second Test-playing tour of West Indies by Zimbabwe

   (April - May 2006)

Zimbabwe were due to travel to the West Indies on 11 April for a two-Test series and five one-day internationals. However, in January 2006a government-appointed “interim committee”, replaced Zimbabwe Cricket’s board.  Peter Chingoka, chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) and now heading the interim committee, had assured an anxious West Indies Cricket Board, which needed to book transport and accommodation and find sponsors and TV contracts, that it would undertake the full tour. 

However, on 19 January 2006the interim committee in Zimbabwe withdrew the nation from Test cricket for 2006, initially for one year, then for a further ten months, but ultimately for the foreseeable future.

Without their Test status, Zimbabwe Cricket had to ask the West Indies Cricket Board if its team could play only the limited-overs series. There was a risk that WICB would cancel the whole tour and seek compensation, as it had a right to do under the Future Tours Programme rules.

Zimbabwe had also withdrawn from Tests in 2004 after Heath Streak was sacked as captain by Chingoka for speaking out against selection policies, and 12 white players made themselves unavailable for selection.

By the end of February the West Indies board had been unable to find alternative opponents and decided that the Zimbabwe tour would go ahead (with seven ODIs instead of five).

Other Zimbabwe tours

Previous tour

South Africa 2004-05

Next tour

New Zealand 2011-12

Next tour of West Indies

2012-13

Members of the tour party (16)

Opening batsmen  Piet Rinke, Terrence Duffin, Vusu Sibanda,

Middle-order batsmen  Charles Coventry, Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Greg Strydom,

Wicket-keeper-batsman:  Brendan Taylor

Spin bowler:  Prosper Utseya Anthony Ireland Ryan Higgins,

Fast bowlers:  Blessing Mahwire, Ed Rainsford, Keegan Meth, Tawanda Mupariwa,

Representation by new provincial teams:   

Man - Manicaland

Msh - Mashonaland

Mvg - Masvingo

Mat - Matabeleland

Mid - Midlands

For the first time since 1904 there was no Logan Cup cricket in Zimbabwe.

Average age of team at time of planned first Test match

(April 2006) :

 21 yrs  5 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Mahwire 10,  Taylor 10,  Chigumbura 6,  Dabengwa 3,  Sibanda 3,  Coventry 2,  Duffin 2,  Mupariwa 1,  Utseya 1,  Chibhabha 0,  Higgins 0,  Ireland 0,  Meth 0,  Rainsford 0,  Rinke 0,  Strydom 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Selection

Unavailable:  Tatenda Taibu (in November 2005 he rejected a new contract from ZC to take up a contract in Bangladesh instead);  Mark Vermeulen (he was suspended for ten years for indiscipline); Andy Blignaut  Heath Streak,Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle (among a group that refused to play until they were paid fees owed to them).

The selectors had only a handful of one-day matches and no first-class cricket to base their selection on, as the Logan Cup was postponed.

Tour Party Announced :  6 April 2006.

The opening batsman Terry Duffin was chosen as stand-in skipper but he did not last long and was soon replaced by a black African player, Prosper Utseya.

Not selected :   Waddington Mwayenga - he was a non-traveling reserve; Gavin Ewing.

Travel

Harare  Q   St John’s

In the original plan, Zimbabwe’s Test side would leave Harare on 11 April and land in West Indies the next day and play their first Test in Georgetown on 20 April.

The Zimbabwean one-day cricketers left Harare on Friday 21 April, and arrived in Antigua late on Saturday night 22 April.  Owing to flight delays the trip took them 33 hours.

Original fixtures

§  ODI  Series

† not first-class

Test appearances on tour

nil

Tour Summary

Replacement tour:  Results

§  ODI  Series

† not first-class

Return to Zimbabwe

 Port of Spain  Q  London   Q Harare

According to the original plan, Zimbabwe were to leave the Caribbean on 15 May.

Rainsford left the Caribbean after the fourth ODI to fulfill his contract with an English league club

Seven others - Terry Duffin, Prosper Utseya, Elton Chigumbura, Brendan Taylor, Keegan Meth, Greg Strydom and Charles Coventry - went to England to play league cricket. Charles Coventry went to England at the end of the one-day series leaving the tour after falling out with coach Kevin Curran.

Time away from Zimbabwe

    x days  

(March to  31 March?)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

Postscript