Zim cricket up preps

from South Africa and Australia ahead of their scheduled return to Test cricket later this year.
Zimbabwe are set to host the two sides in a triangular series from June 29 to July 6 and then engage the Australians in two four-day games afterwards.

Assistant coach Steve Mangongo yesterday said the squad of 30, which had been training in two batches in Harare and Bulawayo for the last month, has integrated this week to finalise their preparations.
“The guys from Bulawayo joined us on Tuesday evening and all the players are now in camped in Harare.

“But those who are based in the city will be coming from home because we want to give them time with their families since some of them had spent long periods away from home in the run up to the World Cup.
“I can confirm these guys have been working really hard for the past month.

“We have been monitoring them and each player will be given a perfect opportunity to prove himself,” said Mangongo.
Australia and South Africa have already named strong squads for the tour, which they are also using to assess their players for future tours.

Zimbabwe are scheduled announce their return to the Test arena since 2005 when they host Bangladesh in August. Mangongo said South Africa and Australia will give them good preparations.
“We are aware of the challenges we are facing and nobody is fooling himself that these are A sides because these are actually strong squads with several players who have played in the national teams.

“Actually these squads are very dangerous because most of the players would want to use the opportunity as a step to push their way back into the first team.
“So it’s good competition for us because with our first official Test coming in August, we need to be thoroughly prepared to face any opposition,” said Mangongo. Zimbabwe’s preparations will seek to address the perennial top order problems and improve the quality of their pace attack.

“Our bowlers struggle to get past the 140km/h mark with consistency and that is really a cause for concern because in Test cricket you would need strong pace.
“Heath Streak has been working hard in that area but we also need to make sure that our batsman are well equipped. So we have been doing intensive drills and perfecting the skills and technique,” said Mangongo. The Zimbabwean 2011/12 international and domestic cricket season will commence on the 26th of June with the arrival of the Australian and South African ‘A’ teams.