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THE Zimbabwe Chevrons’ dogged display against the West Indies at Queens in Bulawayo, to force their first draw in a Test match in a dozen years, was the kind of never-say-die spirit that we always expect from those who are representing this country. Pushed against the wall, after they allowed the Calypso Kings to find a way to escape from a precarious position and then put together a record eighth-wicket partnership which thrust them into a very strong position in the second Test, the Chevrons were expected to just collapse and surrender.

Especially after their top batsmen, including the opening pair of Hamilton Masakadza and Solomon Mire, were blown away by a sensational fast-bowling display by the Windies pace spearhead, Kemar Roach, who bowled with both venom and accuracy to leave us starring at defeat.

Masakadza, who appears to be getting better with age, had top-scored for the Chevrons in the first innings with his career-best score of 147 and when he went without reaching double figures, and Mire was also dismissed cheaply, everyone expected the Chevrons to collapse on the fourth day and crash to an innings defeat.

They were not wrong to fear the worst because, in the past, the Chevrons have tended to wilt under every sign of pressure exerted on them and those who have been arguing that we are no longer good enough to play at this level of the game, were already preparing to write a number of damaging articles to tell the world why their gospel should now be embraced.

But this is a different Chevrons side and not even the cheap dismissal of Brendan Taylor could deflate their spirits and rather than collapse, as would have been the case in the past, they found a way to take the game back to their opponents.

Sikandar Raza, who is turning into a genuine all-rounder for this team, and PJ Moor started the fightback by resisting the Windies attack on the final day of the fourth session with a commendable display pregnant with both spirit and focus as they took the game into the fifth and final day with an unbroken stand.

And their positive attitude appeared to also rub into their teammates who fought gallantly as they defied the Windies attack for most of the day and forced the draw which was celebrated by the Chevrons fans.

This is what makes Test cricket special — the dogged resistance is as important as just blowing away your opponents and refusing to be bullied into defeat is an art itself and that is why a draw after five days of action is considered a great result depending on circumstances.

The first signs that these Chevrons are no longer easy prey came in Sri Lanka where, on the turning wickets of the Asian team, they battled toe-to-toe with their opponents en-route to helping us win our first ODI series in that country 3-2.

Then, in the only Test of that tour, the Chevrons battled all the way for five days and would have been full value for a sensational victory had it not been for a questionable call by the match officials to give their hosts a lifeline when they had their backs to the wall.

This was also the case in this Test against the Windies where, had it not been for a poor umpiring call to save the touring side’s captain Jason Holder, after he had scored just 11 runs, the script would have been very different.

Instead, Holder took full advantage of his reprieve to score a hundred for his side.

But, for us, what is important is the clear evidence that we are seeing that our national team is making huge strides, in the right direction, and Streak and his coaching staff should be commended for the great job they are doing.

It’s very clear that Streak, a former captain of the team, knows the Chevrons very well and can work wonders if given time and we should never lose focus of the main mission, which is to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.

The return of Jarvis and Taylor has added value to the team and we were also charmed to see Tendai Chisoro getting on the wickets column in his first Test for his nation.

Our cricket is in good hands and the administrators, led by Tavengwa Mukuhlani, have been concentrating on making the game stronger and our representative teams better and we believe that we have the right combination, right now, for us to start seeing some very good results coming from our cricket.

Our national cricket team is important because it always plays at the highest level and the world would be watching and that is why it is important that they should always do well when they plunge into battle.

Right now, the signs are encouraging.