adminin which the home side have lost, which has raised concern.
The poor bowling and appalling fielding has taken the gloss off a wonderful performance by captain Brendan Taylor who became the first Zimbabwean to score back-to-back centuries in ODIs.
What Taylor has done very well is maintain a strike rate of around 85 to 90 runs, per hundred balls faced, which none of the other batsmen have been able to do.
Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza and Tatenda Taibu, and certainly Elton Chigumbura, have looked horribly out-of-sorts which has put a huge amount of pressure on Taylor’s shoulders.
Zimbabwe can count themselves very fortunate that the captain has delivered up to now.
To be fair to Sibanda, it is very hard to focus on the job after losing a family member dear to your heart and so when he does get that elusive first Test century, it will make the moment that much more special.
So how long do the selectors stick with Chigumbura, who is clearly out of form, and quite frankly doesn’t look particularly interested in the game at the moment.
The way he walks to the crease appears to suggest that he is somewhere else and on the he gives the impression that his mind on other issues not related to cricket and representing his country.
There are rumblings that the players haven’t been paid out in full.
If this is true, and it’s affecting their game, then we have a serious problem.
Cricket lovers and loyal supporters of the team have clearly been affected by the string of poor results and the attendance figures at the grounds speak volumes about that.
What has really disappointed is the fielding, which has turned from good to bad and then to poor, in a very short space of time.
The entire Zimbabwe team will do well to have a very good look at how the Black Caps go about their business.
Their fielding is outstanding, playing together like a collective unit, and they are very good in dispatching the bad ball and rotating the strike at will.
It will also be interesting to see which route the selectors will take when choosing the Test side with both Greg Lamb and Graeme Cremer still recovering after operations.
Who will partner Raymond Price in the spinning department?
Given the way the team is currently playing, there is no doubt that tough times lie ahead when the two teams meet in the one-off Test match in Bulawayo.
Online Reporter