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Zimbabwe are hopeless
Should the Zimbabwe cricket authorities and the fifteen players who have defected from playing fail to compromise in the near future, their cricket is in danger of even dying a natural death. There was song and dance in some quarters after the performance in the first one dayer against Sri Lanka. Analyze the performance: it was one man's efforts and the Sri Lankans not being in top gear that helped that performance.

Tatenda Taibo is a talented, brave young player. He stands out amongst his mob. There is no doubt that given time he will develop into being a very successful player. He certainly has the potential, the correct mental approach and temperament to succeed in the game.

The average age of the current lot in action is twenty-and-a-half. That indicates it is a team totally unsuitable for international cricket. No nation can survive with such a young outfit. Experience of some sort is a must.

In the opening one dayer the Zimbabweans got away with beginners luck and youthful exuberance. That will wear away when the honeymoon is over and the hard grind begins. As it was, the second game proved just that. In his desperation to keep the scoreboard ticking Taibu dashed for a second run on Mahela Jayawardane misfield. It turned out to be a calculated misfield as the return defeated the young diminutive captain. Although there was some resistance and a few lusty blows executed Zimbabwe could only manage 136 runs and fell well short of batting through the allotted fifty overs too.

Sri Lanka missed the services of a third seamer. In the opening game Nuwan Kulasekera went for 20 runs in the first spell of two overs. He was given just one more by the captain where he conceded six runs. Then he was disposed of for the next game.

Zimbabwe were 79 for 4 wickets in the opening game. Clearly Sri Lanka felt the pinch without an effective third seamer. Even this Zimbabwe outfit can hang around and get a few runs against Upul Chandana and Sanath Jayasuriya. There is some assistance for the quicker bowlers on these pitches, so a third seamer is a must.

Again, in the second game, Chaminda Vaas had the opposition tottering at 27 for 4 wickets. Then a partnership of forty-nine runs followed. A good spell of half-a-dozen overs from a third seamer could well have averted that. In fact, Upul Chandana who came on to bowl first change, gave away nineteen runs in four overs in his first spell.

Should Dilhara Fernando not be fully fit and the four selectors not have faith in Nuwan Kulasekera, then youngster Mahroof must get the nod to play. He bowled very well in the under 19 World Cup and is a capable all rounder. Against this opposition, on the given conditions, why play seven frontline batsmen? It does not make sense.

Cricket requires the contribution of generations for a nation to step out and succeed at international level. It is the main reason for Bangladesh falling flat on their faces, even when there is some sign of progress. Whatever they do, they will continue to struggle for another couple of decades.

Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, played much cricket within South Africa until gaining independence in the nineteen-sixties. They have inherited a rich heritage in the game. That cannot be destroyed.

The blacks and the whites, whatever the political differences have to keep their hands locked in cricket, for the survival and progress of the game. They definitely need each other. The day may come when the team could be majority or even all black players. But not yet. It was not until the nineteen seventies that West Indians became an all-black team, after having become a test playing nation in the late nineteen twenties.

Zimbabwe have to sort out their crisis. At present their team of cricketers are hopeless to be playing at the highest level.

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