This proved to be
Zimbabwe's last season before
their elevation to Test status,
although that was not knwon at
the time. It was known, however,
that the future of cricket in
Zimbabwe was certainly at the
crossroads, and failure to gain
Test status would undoubtedly put
the game back many years, perhaps
permanently. It would have been
catastophic for Zimbabwe had Test
status not been granted in
1992.
It was an open
secret that a number of senior
players, including Dave Houghton,
were planning to retire after the
World Cup if Test status were not
granted. It was also certain
that, with South Africa
readmitted to world cricket,
promising youngsters would be
lured over the Limpopo both by
the money and by the promise of a
more meaningful career and be
lost to the game in Zimbabwe, and
this was proved correct when
exactly this situation took place
in rugby. Further delay, even by
one year, would have delivered
Zimbabwe cricket a fatal blow,
made it impossible to build a
strong team ever again, and
probably ensured that they were
never capable even of winning the
ICC tournament again. Neither
would there have been enough
cricketing strength left in the
country to attract quality
touring teams, or even to deserve
the first-class label.
Fortunately, the ZCU
had in its president Dave
Ellman-Brown the right man for
the moment, and by extensive
contacts and diplomacy he
convinced the governing bodies of
all the Test-playing nations
except England that the time was
ripe for Zimbabwe's promotion and
further delay would be
disastrous. Thus in July 1992
Zimbabwe was elevated to full
member status and cricket in the
country was saved from
extinction.
The 1991/92 season
was played in the fear that this
might be Zimbabwe's last chance
in top company. A good showing in
the World Cup in Australia and
New Zealand at the end of the
season was the immediate
objective. Again Sri Lanka
declined to tour, but a strong
Australia B team, under the
captaincy of Mark Taylor, came
instead for a very brief tour.
The team contained such players
as Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Tom
Moody, Michael Bevan and Paul
Reiffel. According to the usual
trend, Zimbabwe won the first
match, a one-day game, before the
tourists were acclimatised, but
then lost the remaining matches.
Both first-class matches were
lost quite heavily, and
Zimbabwe's lack of depth was
obvious; the one-day series was
lost 2-1.
The highlight of the
season, though, was the visit of
the South African team to play an
unofficial one-day international
before both teams departed for
the World Cup in Australia. This
was the first time the full South
African team had ever played in
the country; they had just been
accepted back after isolation
and, despite being played on a
Wednesday, there was a capacity
crowd at Harare Sports Club and
enormous national interest.
Zimbabwe were always struggling
with the bat, but they did make
the South African batsmen
struggle for victory.
There was
insufficient time in the season,
bearing in mind the fact that
Zimbabwe's amateurs required
leave from their regular jobs to
play, for a second first-class
touring team as well as the World
Cup. So it was that this season
there was less first-class
cricket in the country than ever
before since the Second World
War, with only the two matches
against Australia B being
considered first-class. However,
the English county Durham, about
to make their debut in the
English county champion-ship,
came out to warm up for their
inaugural season. They were
captained by Paul Parker, who was
born in the country. They played
two one-day matches against the
national side before the latter
departed for Australia, both won
by Zimbabwe, as they should have
been, although the second was
close. They then played a number
of matches against the remaining
local players, which gave
valuable experience to the
players on both sides.
Grant Flower, who
defended dourly as an opening
batsman, was the leading
run-scorer in the limited
first-class programme, with 189
runs at an average of 47.25.
Unfortunately, a broken bone in
his arm playing in an unimportant
match in South Africa destroyed
his chances of taking part in the
World Cup. He was closely
followed by Dave Houghton, who
hit 188 runs at an average of 94,
having been twice not out for a
total of 162 runs in the second
match against Australia B. The
bowlers were singularly
unsuccessful, the top
wicket-taker being Eddo Brandes
with only 7. A good showing in
the World Cup would undoubtedly
have a positive bearing on
Zimbabwe's application for Test
status, but for most of the
tournament Zimbabwe struggled.
They began well by running up a
total of over 300 against Sri
Lanka, only to lose the match;
Geoffrey Saulez, former English
scorer, is convinced that in the
flurry of runs at the end of the
Zimbabwe innings, the local
scorers were overwhelmed and
'lost' a significant number of
runs from the Zimbabwe total.
Then came a series of defeats,
not all convincingly, until their
final match against an England
side which had already won
through to the semi-finals and
was grossly overconfident. After
a poor Zimbabwe batting display,
the Zimbabwe bowlers and
fielders, led by a fiery Eddo
Brandes, shattered the English
batting and recorded a narrow
Zimbabwean victory. Although
ironically England were
unconvinced, this result msut
have played some small part in
quelling the doubts of other
countries regarding Zimbabwe's
suitability for Test
cricket.
Andy Flower, who
scored 115 not out against Sri
Lanka on his official one-day
debut, was the leading batsman in
the World Cup, with 246 runs at
an average of 41.00. Only two
other batsmen passed 100 runs:
Dave Houghton (165 at 23.57) and
Ali Shah (160 at 26.66). Brandes
was by far the most successful
bowler, his 14 wickets coming at
an average of 25.35.
AUSTRALIA B
TOUR
(1ST ODI) At Harare
Sports Club; 8 September.
AUSTRALIA B 173 (T M Moody 42, S
G Law 31; A J Traicos 4/20).
ZIMBABWE 176/4 (K J Arnott 85, A
Flower 30). Zimbabwe won by six
wickets.
(Not first-class) At
Harare Sports Club; 10, 11, 12
September. ZIMBABWE B 220 (G W
Flower 45, I P Butchart 60; D J
Hickey 3/60, P E McIntyre 3/19)
and 164 (G W Flower 40, N P Hough
53; P E McIntyre 4/35). AUSTRALIA
B 291 (M A Taylor 35, T J Nielson
79, S R Waugh 59, M G Bevan 36; H
J Hira 5/74) and 94/4 (M A Taylor
37). Australia B won by six
wickets.
(2ND ODI) At
Bulawayo Athletic Club; 15
September. AUSTRALIA B 244/7 (S G
Law 53, S G Waugh 116*; M P
Jarvis 4/46). ZIMBABWE 209 (K J
Arnott 61, A Flower 49, A J
Pycroft 30*; P E McIntyre 3/52, R
J Tucker 4/41). Australia B won
by 35 runs.
At Bulawayo Athletic
Club; 16, 17, 18, 19 September.
AUSTRALIA B 483 (M A Taylor 31, T
M Moody 141, S R Waugh 119, M G
Bevan 54, D J Hickey 32; M P
Jarvis 3/112, A H Omarshah 4/113)
and 20/0. ZIMBABWE 193 (G W
Flower 74, A D R Campbell 35; P R
Reiffel 4/34, D J Hickey 3/46)
and 309 (G W Flower 84, K J
Arnott 60, A J Pycroft 30, S G
Peall 41*; P R Reiffel 5/43), S K
Warne 3/76). Australia B won by
ten wickets.
At Harare Sports
Club; 21, 23, 24, 25 September.
ZIMBABWE 239 (K J Arnott 31, D L
Houghton 105*, M P Jarvis 33; D J
Hickey 5/72, P E McIntyre 4/43)
and 179 (K J Arnott 47, D L
Houghton 57*; S K Warne 7/49).
AUSTRALIA B 383 (M A Taylor 41, T
M Moody 85, S G Law 94, R J
Tucker 62, S K Warne 35*; E A
Brandes 6/95) and 36/1. Australia
B won by nine wickets.
(3RD ODI) At Harare
Sports Club; 22 September.
AUSTRALIA B 248/8 (S R Waugh 116,
M G Bevan 55; I P Butchart 3/32).
ZIMBABWE 240 (A J Pycroft 104; R
J Tucker 4/41). Australia B won
by 8 runs.
SOUTH
AFRICAN MATCH
(Unofficial ODI) At
Harare Sports Club; 5 February.
ZIMBABWE 170 (A A Donald 3/29).
SOUTH AFRICA 171/4 (P N Kirsten
64, W J Cronje 47). South Africa
won by six wickets.
DURHAM
TOUR
(1ST ODI) At Harare
South Country Club; 3 February.
ZIMBABWE 274/4 (W R James 37, A
Flower 90, A J Pycroft 83*).
DURHAM 151/8 (J D Glendenen 41; M
P Jarvis 4/17). Zimbabwe won by
123 runs.
(2ND ODI) At
Alexandra Sports Club, Harare; 4
February. DURHAM 206/4 (J D
Glendenen 49, P Bainbridge 64, G
K Brown 39*). ZIMBABWE 207/8 (A C
Waller 47, D L Houghton 35, A M
Omarshah 42*). Zimbabwe won by
two wickets.
(50 overs) At Old
Hararians Sports Club; 6
February. ZIMBABWE UNDER-19 152
(S G Davies 41; G Wigham 3/10, G
K Brown 3/26). DURHAM 155/4 (M P
Briers 63*, P W Henderson 36*).
Durham won by six wickets.
(50 overs) At Harare
South Country Club; 8 February.
DURHAM 200/7 (J A Daley 45, P W G
Parker 36*). ZIMBABWE COUNTRY
DISTRICTS 199/7 (M H Dekker 67, G
A Paterson 32, G J Crocker 31).
Durham won by 1 run.
(50 overs) At Harare
Sports Club; 9 February. ZIMBABWE
XI 200/5 (E A Essop-Adam 34, G J
Whittall 41, G J Crocker 31*, J A
Rennie 34*). DURHAM 187 (G K
Brown 51, I Smith 41; J A Rennie
3/45). Zimbabwe XI won by 13
runs.
(Not first-class) At
Mutare Sports Club; 11, 12, 13
February. MANICALAND SELECT XI
220 (M H Dekker 43, J P Brent 52;
G Wigham 4/36, D A Graveney 4/39)
and 286/2 dec (N P Hough 200*, M
H Dekker 40*). DURHAM 300/7 dec
(P W G Parker 39, P Bainbridge
52, M P Briers 74, I Smith 69; S
G Peall 3/76, P A Strang 3/40)
and 209/3 (W Larkins 119, I Smith
55*). Durham won by seven
wickets.
(50 overs) At Harare
Sports Club; 16 February. DURHAM
120 (I Smith 33; J D Gibson
3/32). ZCU PRESIDENT'S XI 121/1
(S E M Dudhia 65*, E A Essop-Adam
31*). President's XI won by nine
wickets.
(Not first-class) At
Harare Sports Club; 18, 19, 20,
21 February. ZIMBABWE B 230 (N P
Hough 31, G J Whittall 30, J A
Rennie 84, S G Peall 46; S J E
Brown 4/45, P W Henderson 5/51)
and 127 (P J Berry 4/47). DURHAM
447/6 dec (J D Glendenen 51, S
Hutton 143, G K Brown 65, P W G
Parker 100*, P 20J Berry 51*).
Durham won by an innings and 90
runs.
(50 overs) At
Bulawayo Athletic Club; 23
February. ZIMBABWE XI 144 (M H
Dekker 42, G J Whittall 34; D A
Graveney 3/22). DURHAM 147/6 (W
Larkins 69, J D Glendenen 37; H H
Streak 5/19). Durham won by four
wickets.
(Not first-class) At
Bulawayo Athletic Club; 24, 25,
26 February. 20 DURHAM 316/6 dec
(M P Briers 132*, C W Scott 47, W
Larkins 71; D H Brain 3/73) and
202/4 dec (S Hutton 54, M P
Briers 30 retired hurt, P
Bainbridge 79*). ZIMBABWE XI
262/6 dec (S G Peall 36, G J
Crocker 63*, G C Martin 61, D H
Brain 49*; D A Graveney 3/81) and
205/9 (S G Peall 36, M H Dekker
66, S V Carlisle 34; D A Graveney
3/25). Match drawn.
WORLD
CUP IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW
ZEALAND
At New Plymouth; 23
February. ZIMBABWE 312/4 (A
Flower 115*, K J Arnott 52, A C
Waller 83*). SRI LANKA 313/7 (R S
Mahanamae 59, M A R Samasekera
75, A Ranatunga 88*, S T
Jayasuriya 32; E A Brandes 3/70).
Sri Lanka won by three
wickets.
At Hobart; 27
February. PAKISTAN 254/4 (Aamer
Sohail 114, Javed Miandad 89; I P
Butchart 3/57). ZIMBABWE 201/7 (D
L Houghton 44, A H Omarshah 33, A
C Waller 44, I P Butchart 33;
Wasim Akram 3/21). Pakistan won
by 53 runs.
At Brisbane; 29
February. WEST INDIES 264/8 (B C
Lara 72, R B Richardson 56, C L
Hooper 63; E A Brandes 3/45).
ZIMBABWE 189/7 (D L Houghton 55,
A H Omarshah 60*; W K M Benjamin
3/27). West Indies won by 75
runs.
At Napier; 3 March.
NEW ZEALAND 162/3 (20.5 overs) (A
H Jones 57, M D Crowe 74*).
ZIMBABWE 105/7 (18 overs) (A
Flower 30; G R Larsen 3/16, C Z
Harris 3/15). New Zealand won by
48 runs (target amended to 154
from 18 overs).
At Hamilton; 7
March. INDIA 203/7 (32 overs) (K
Srikkanth 32, S R Tendulkar 81, S
V Manjrekar 34; M G Burmester
3/36, A J Traicos 3/35). ZIMBABWE
104/1 (19.1 overs) (A H Omarshah
31, A Flower 43*). India won by
55 runs (totals amended to 158
and 103).
At Canberra; 10
March. ZIMBABWE 163 (B M McMillan
3/30, P N Kirsten 3/31). SOUTH
AFRICA 164/3 (K C Wessels 70, P N
Kirsten 62*). South Africa won by
seven wickets.
At Hobart; 14 March.
AUSTRALIA 265/6 (D C Boon 48, D M
Jones 54, M E Waugh 66*, S R
Waugh 55). ZIMBABWE 137.
Australia won by 128 runs.
At Albury; 18 March.
ZIMBABWE 134 (I T Botham 3/23, R
K Illingworth 3/33). ENGLAND 125
(E A Brandes 4/21). Zimbabwe won
by 9 runs.
