There was little surprising about Zimbabwe’s annihilation by the Black Caps in all three formats of the game. However, what it brought to the fore was the wide gap that exists even between Zimbabwe and other lowly-ranked Test teams. New Zealand, we all know, aren’t among the better teams in Test cricket currently. In fact, they have been poor ever since the likes of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns called it quits. It has only been veteran Daniel Vettori who has kept the flag afloat for the Kiwis and, to an extent, Ross Taylor. The rest have been merely minnow-bashers, as evident from this series. Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, whose averages had taken severe beatings following failures against the bigger sides, took the opportunity to balance out things, smashing the hapless Zimbabweans bowlers to all parts of the ground. Even the struggling Chris Martin roared back to form against the harmless batsmen from the minnow nation. In addition, the home side also uncovered a couple of men to watch out for in the future whose respond to the names of Rob Nicol and Andrew Elli.
And while the impressive wins will give some confidence to New Zealand as they head for tougher challenges against South Africa, Zimbabwe will do well to reflect on a few positives. As usual, their captain Brendan Taylor led from the front, salvaging some pride for his nation even in losing causes. Further, the aggressive Hamilton Masakadza also came up with some memorable knocks, not to forget the lightning glovework of Tatenda Taibu behind the stumps and the lion-hearted bowling efforts of Kyle Jarvis. The only way for Zimbabwe to improve though is to play more and more against the tougher sides. Agreed, it will not make for great viewing on TV and spectators too will not turn out at the ground, but Zimbabwe playing India would at least be a change theoretically as opposed to India playing Sri Lanka every second month. Remember, the Test tour of New Zealand was Zimbabwe’s first in almost a decade, so obviously they were undercooked. At least they have made the requisite comeback, no matter how disappointing the results. New Zealand was not a bad place to start considering the Zimbabweans have given them a tough time in the past, but to their credit the home side were way too good on this occasion.
It is up to the ICC to help Zimbabwe ease their way back into the five-day game. This could be done by arranging tours in different Test-playing nations, beginning with the less challenging ones like Bangladesh and West Indies, then moving on to the much tougher ones like Australia, South Africa and eventually, of course, in the sub-continent, against India and Sri Lanka. Relegating them from the Test arena can be the easy way out, but it would be highly unfair on the African nation, more so because they made their Test debut back in 1992, which was nearly a decade before Bangladesh made theirs. And Bangladesh too have not done anything sensational in the five-day game stint so far. If anything, they have only become far more competitive in the one-day arena. As such, penalizing Zimbabwe for poor performances isn’t the right choice. As it is cricket has only 10 Test playing nations, and the ICC must first and foremost work towards improving the future tours programme (FTP), and ensure that each side gets an equal opportunity to face the others home and away. This is the only way teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh can get more competitive. It is the responsibility of world cricket to carry along a Zimbabwe and treat it will respect instead of seeking its relegation.
By: The Pinch Hitter
Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.
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