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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE cricket team coach Dave Houghton is enjoying every minute of the domestic Logan Cup cricket competition where national team players have put in some dominant performances for their provincial sides.
The Logan Cup has given the players some form of activity ahead of the upcoming white-ball series against Ireland in Harare mid-January.
The series will kick-off with the T20I matches between January 12 and January 15, followed by the ODI fixtures from January 18-23. All the matches will be played at Harare Sports Club.
“I’m particularly relishing the series because I’m enjoying watching our national team players back playing domestic cricket,” said Houghton.
National team captain Craig Ervine has led from the front with back-to-back hundreds for his new team, Eagles, in the first two matches against Rocks and Rhinos.
The left handed batsman is currently the leading run scorer with 377 runs, scored at an impressive average of 125.66.
Middle order batsman Tony Munyonga is the second highest run-getter after amassing 258 runs at an average of 64.50 and has also caught the eye of the coach.
Former captain Sean Williams is the leading wicket-taker after plundering 17 scalps in four innings for defending champions Tuskers. He was the headline act in their opening match against Rocks with match figures of 6-97 and 5-93.
Eagles’ Brad Evans, who made his senior national team debut this year and was part of the ICC T20 World Cup, has also been in fine form in the first class cricket competition after taking 14 wickets.
“If you look carefully at the scorecards of the games that have been played, our national team members are dominating, which is something that I have asked them to do for some time.
“Guys like Craig are getting big hundreds almost every time they bat. Tony has scored some runs as well. He hasn’t quite got to a hundred but he has a couple of nineties and a 60.
“They are dominating the domestic game and that’s what I like to see. So I can’t wait to get us back together again as a team and get out on the field to impress our supporters,” said Houghton.
But Zimbabwe, just like the Irish, have not played any international game since their participation at the ICC T20 World Cup in October-November.
Houghton said the players needed to recover from a busy schedule in the last seven months culminating in the ICC T20 World Cup.
They started off in May when they hosted Namibia and then Afghanistan in June, leading to the World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo later the same month.
They had little time to rest afterwards as they played more games against Bangladesh, India and Australia before departing for the T20 World Cup finals, where they progressed to the second round of the tournament for the first time in history.
“We needed a bit of a break because we played almost non-stop from June,” said Houghton.
“But we finish this year on a reasonable high. I think our cricket has improved over the last six months.
“We are playing a decent brand of cricket. The most important thing for me is when we kick off the new year against Ireland we should be able to go out there and play that same brand of cricket. Ireland are a good side these days.
“They have some good players, some players who get exposure to international franchise cricket events, like Paul Stirling, and (Andrew) Balbirnie who has played around the world.
“These guys are experienced cricketers. They are by no means push-overs. So it’s a tough tour for us but it’s one I’m relishing,” said Houghton.
“We still want to continue to play our brand of cricket which has been fearless. Within that, unfortunately, we may have some who don’t score enough runs and so on.
“But the big thing that we have going for the national team at the moment is that everybody is playing that (fearless) brand and have put the team’s ambitions ahead of their own.
“And, I think for everybody at the franchises looking to get in, that’s what I am looking for. I am looking for team players. I am looking for guys who can come in prepared to play for the team and do what the team requires. Your own aspirations will be met along the way.
“So the guys will play more domestic cricket until Christmas. They will break for Christmas and New Year and then we assemble as a squad on January 4, which will give us seven or eight days before our first game on January 12, and that’s enough time,” said Houghton.
The two sides recently met at the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup where Zimbabwe emerged 31-run victors in Hobart. Ireland have since named their squad for the tour, led by Balbirnie.
Cricket Ireland national selector Andrew White said the Zimbabwe tour was important in more than one way.
“With a T20 World Cup Qualifier in July and a possible 50-over Cricket World Cup in October – if we can qualify – the importance of this white-ball series is obvious.
“The volume of cricket next year demands that we will need a broader pool of ‘international-ready’ players to meet the challenges ahead, and the Zimbabwe tour will be the start of that process,” he said.
Online Reporter