Tinaye Agere
Don Makanyanga
Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE senior men’s cricket coach Justin Sammons believes, with more matches to give exposure to players, the country has potential to become a more competitive side on the international stage.
Sammons was appointed the Zimbabwe gaffer back in June and, so far, has presided over the Chevrons red ball and white ball cricket assignments.
Sammons’ first assignment was a home five-match T20I series against India in which Zimbabwe won the very first match with the South African in charge.
The match is an early highlight of Sammons’ time with Zimbabwe as the Chevrons became the first team to beat the newly crowned T20 world champions India, courtesy of a 13-run victory.
Unfortunately, the hosts went on to lose the series 4-1. Sammons’ next assignment was a one-off Test against Ireland, which again the Chevrons lost, this time by four wickets. Despite the losses, Sammons believes Zimbabwe Cricket holds great potential.
“There is a lot of natural ability within the playing group, and there is a lot of potential, which is really exciting,” said the Chevrons coach.
“Along with that potential, there is a good group of guys who have heart in the right place and want to do well for Zimbabwe.
“They are passionate about it. If you combine those two elements I am very excited about, we can go far as a group.”
With Zimbabwe seemingly beginning a new cycle of players, Sammons is excited to be part of the journey and is optimistic of Zimbabwe becoming a competitive team.
“It is really exciting that we have so many young players in the team with so much potential. What excites me more is the fact that there is a lot of international cricket to come for these guys,” he said.
“The more they play, the more experience they get and the better they can become. The potential is there and the talent is there. The more they (national team players) spend time as a group and play against quality opposition, the better they can become.
“But this is not going to come overnight. It is a journey that I am excited about partaking, and a journey that is going to take us to some good places.”
Sammons described the loss to Ireland as disappointing, but believes it came with a lot of lessons for his charges.
“It was really disappointing to have lost that (Test match). There were so many moments in a Test match that, if they go in another way or follow a different path, the game would have a different outcome.
“The morning of day one, the two openers were brilliant and got us into a real position of strength. When you are 100 for no loss on the morning of day one, you really have to capitalise on that, but we did not.
“That was the first area that let us down; going from 97 without loss to being 210 all out; you don’t win Test matches by doing that.
“But I think it comes down to the inexperience of the middle order, which is understandable at the end of the day. There were a lot of nerves and I think they will take great lessons from the Test, which is what we want.
“The more we play red ball matches, the more they are going to learn and the better we will get.”
As Zimbabwe prepare for their next assignment, a series against Pakistan in December, Sammons has revealed that he wants to work on the players’ conditioning and spin batting.
“Moving forward, conditioning is going to be a big focus point,” he said.
“We need to get all the players more conditioned; we need to get our basics better and get the fundamentals right. The way we have played seamers has been really good, but we need to spend more time on the way we play spin. We also need to teach our bowlers to be more consistent.”
Online Reporter