Zim’s takeaway from huge loss: Focus on limited-overs format

PORT ELIZABETH, December 28

Zimbabwe might concentrate on the limited-overs formats to be more competitive in the wake of a devastating defeat by South Africa in their one-off Test at St George’s Park on Wednesday. The bottom-ranked Test nation were beaten by an innings and 120 runs inside two days in the inaugural four-day Test against their neighbours.

Coach Heath Streak said Zimbabwe’s infrequent Test schedule made it near impossible to compete against top countries like South Africa. “Maybe there is an argument for us to focus a lot more of our resources and time into short-format cricket to give ourselves more of a realistic chance of competing at a higher level rather than hanging around near the bottom of the table,” he said.

Streak said if Zimbabwe were to play more Tests, they might have to settle for games against the likes of newcomers Afghanistan and Ireland. “I think if you get a bit of context to the Test rankings, with an incentive to get to the next level, with maybe a promotion-relegation type of thing, it’s worth looking at,” he said.

“Obviously we would like to play against the top countries but maybe we could play them at home so we can set up the conditions to favour us.” 

Zimbabwe, whose Test venues in Bulawayo and Harare are notoriously slow wickets, were bowled out twice in a single day on Wednesday on a bouncy surface where their batsmen had no answer to the pace of the South African attack. Added to that, they were playing with the pink ball for the first time in their maiden Day-Night Test. “We knew it was always going to be tough,” said captain Graeme Cremer. — Reuters

from The Tribune http://ift.tt/2Cq2Y9O