Andrew
Brighton Zhawi
SEAN WILLIAMS is back, refreshed and feeling good.
The 35-year-old took some time off following the loss of his father, but he says he is good to go and representing his nation has always been important to him.
“I am personally feeling good as some time away was really needed,” Williams told The Sunday Mail Sport.
“Training has been going well and doing the best I possibly can, and the time away really has refreshed everything.”
He comes back to a relatively new changing room, and he is loving it.
“Training camp has been amazing; it’s been broken down and match-simulated, as well as positive mental approach to how we want to play.
“Having Dave (Houghton) come in with a wealth of knowledge and the respect he gets from the players, in particular the seniors, is just mind-blowing.
“It’s a positive impact for all at Zimbabwe Cricket, and growth for juniors is something I look forward to watching under Dave,’’ he said.
Zimbabwe play Singapore tomorrow in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B 2022 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
And Williams has played against Singapore before.
In fact, he was captain when the two teams met in the Singapore T20 Tri-Series that also featured Nepal in 2019.
Tomorrow is another meeting in different circumstances.
“I feel that we have the home advantage obviously because we are playing at home and we have had the opportunity to prepare under these conditions, and to figure out ways we would like to play and execute that in our training sessions.
“No team can ever be written off in a T20. I feel through our preparations things have really gone well and one common goal has been identified, so we will do what it takes as a team to reach that.
“It’s one game at a time as we live one day at a time.”
Williams is also Zimbabwe’s second-highest run scorer in T20 Internationals with 1035 runs, which include seven 50s.
“I love all formats of the game.
“Any day you have the opportunity to represent your country is a blessing, as you are one of the very few who ever get that chance, so for me it’s not about my stats, it’s about the best for the team and the future of this team.
“No contribution is too small when it’s winning.”
It has been four years since Williams played an international match at his home ground, Queens Sports Club.
Ironically, he last played there during the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.
For him, this will have a special meaning also because his other home ground, Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC), is also hosting the other qualifiers.
“BAC is the ground in which my father brought me up, so that’s my home ground.
“All our games are at Queens, but it’s still in Bulawayo, that obviously means the world to me as an individual to play in front of my family, as the last time I played at Queens in an international game was as far back as 2018 in the previous World Cup qualifiers.
“The fans in Bulawayo are always electric as there are throughout Zimbabwe,” said Williams.
Meanwhile, the official 100-day countdown to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is underway, with Melbourne marking the celebrations on Friday.
For Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), they have the qualifier to deal with before they can dream of Melbourne.
And the big question is: Can the Chevrons avoid the ignominy of losing a qualifier at home again?
The answers will start coming tomorrow with the clash against Singapore.
Singapore are not a new challenge for Zimbabwe.
There have been two T20 International meetings (in 2019) between the two teams, whose head-to-head stats read 1-1.
Zimbabwe won the first-ever meeting by eight wickets before Singapore, who were hosting a Tri-series that also featured Nepal, won the second meeting by four runs.
Three years later, the sides are facing off in a qualifier.
The reality is Zimbabwe have slid on the rankings, hence they find themselves in this situation.
As of July 7, the Chevrons are ranked 12th on the ICC T20I rankings, while Singapore are on 20.
Zimbabwe’s T20 International form include a whitewash against Afghanistan in July, which came after a 2-3 series loss to Namibia at Queens Sports Club.
It seems like a lifetime ago when Zimbabwe stunned Australia in that inaugural World T20 Cup edition in South Africa in 2007.
Back then, Zimbabwe qualified by virtue of being an ICC full member.
That privilege also took Zimbabwe to the T20 World Cup in West Indies in 2010, Sri Lanka two years later, Bangladesh (2014) and India 2016.
Now lowly-ranked teams go through a qualifier.
Zimbabwe missed out on the 2021 T20 World Cup due to an ICC ban, but they still would have had to go through a qualifier.
Can that drought end at this year’s eighth edition of the competition set for Australia in October?
Well, it’s less than 100 days to go to Melbourne, but for ZC and the Chevrons faithful, they will have less than a week to find out.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe play Jersey, where they will come against a familiar face in former coach Allan “The Good Murungu’’ Butcher, who is part of Jersey’s technical team.
Their group assignments will end with a clash against USA on Thursday, July 14.
Trivia
Sean Williams is Zimbabwe’s second run scorer in T20 Internationals with 1034 runs.
The most runs (1662) belong to Hamilton Masakadza.
The two are the only Zimbabwe cricketers to score 1000 runs in T20 Internationals.
Also, no Zimbabwean batter has scored a century in T20 Internationals.
Solomon Mire (94), Masakadza 93 not out, PJ Moor (92 not out against Singapore).
Wesley Madhevere is one of the six Zimbabwe players to score a minimum of five T20 International 50s. Madhevere has six fifties, the other players are Masakadza (11), Williams (7) Brendan Taylor (6), Craig Ervine (5), Chamu Chibhabha (5)
ZIMBABWE SQUAD
Burl Ryan, Chakabva Regis, Chatara Tendai, Ervine Craig (captain), Jongwe Luke, Kaia Innocent, Madhevere Wesley, Marumani Tadiwanashe, Masakadza Wellington, Muzarabani Blessing, Ngarava Richard, Raza Sikandar, Shumba Milton, Williams Sean
Online Reporter