One hundred not out

2810-1-1-ONE HUNDRED NOT OUTEXACTLY 24 years to the month that Zimbabwe cricketers played their first Test match at Harare Sports Club against India, the Chevrons will plunge into their 100th Test match at the same venue this morning against a side from the Asian sub-continent, Sri Lanka, which over the years has perfected the art of beating them. It’s a landmark event, the first match which the Chevrons will play under the stewardship of former captain Heath Streak, who is now the head coach, with another former skipper, Tatenda Taibu, having taken over as the selectors’ chief, promising that nothing will ever be the same again for the team.

Zimbabwe have never beaten Sri Lanka in a Test match, but there is a spring in the step of the Chevrons going into this match, they could end that lengthy barren spell even against a team brimming with confidence after whitewashing Australia in their previous battle.

The Chevrons have won 11 of the 99 Test matches they have played to date, but it’s a brutal world out there in the Test arena that Zimbabwe have actually done better than what India had achieved at this stage of their journey, with the Asian powerhouse having won 10 Tests while New Zealand had won seven.

When Zimbabwe were granted Test status in 1992, only about 60 cricketers were left in the country and the game was considered one for the elite, with the black majority not even interested in its affairs.

But things have changed so much down the line, that cricket has now turned itself into a mass sport in this country, with a lot of support among the blacks, and although Test cricket rarely brings the crowds to Harare Sports Club, the significance of the occasion is set to attract quite a sizeable number.

“Before we went to the 1992 World Cup, the Zimbabwe cricket board asked the players — do you want to play international cricket or go back into the South African cricket system? To a man, the cricketers put their hands up to go back into the South African system,” Dave Houghton, who captained Zimbabwe in their first Test match back then, said this week.

“There were only 60 cricketers left in the country – how could we possibly play Test cricket? There was an exodus in the late 1980s. (Graeme) Hick, Trevor Penney, Kevin Curran, Peter Rawson – probably the best seamer we’ve ever had. I had opportunities to leave but I didn’t want Zimbabwe to go downhill and never play again.

“I thought we were going to lose the next generation – the Flowers, the Strangs, Alistair Campbell, Heath Streak – so I put an ultimatum to the board in 1990: unless they were prepared to offer professional contracts, I was leaving.

“All my cricket, right up until the first Test in 1992, was on an amateur basis. The only first-class cricket we played after independence was against other countries’ A sides. If selected, we took leave to be able to play, which didn’t please the wives too much.

“I’m so proud that so many young African cricketers are playing cricket in Zimbabwe, which goes back to the early 1980s, when we went into the townships, teaching the game.

“I’d love to say, looking back, that I was delighted we were playing Test cricket and wanted to embrace it, but the truth is, I was embarrassed we were playing. People were saying they’d have to rewrite the record books. I was worried we were going to get turned over inside two days and people would say, ‘I told you so’.

“I sat down with John Hampshire, who’d come on board as our coach in our early days in Test cricket, and he said, ‘Our aim is to try and make these games go five days. If you lose in five days, then you’ve achieved something.’ We brought it right back to absolute basics. Don’t worry about scoring, just play up and down the line. If we could make 180 runs in a day, bat two days, that’s 360. If we bowl one side of the wicket, we’ll compete. And that’s how we played our cricket for those first ten games.

“I made a hundred on Test debut, and got 40-odd not out in the second innings. One of my best friends sent me a message: ‘Retire now. You’re better than Donald Bradman!’”

He also remembers the first win over Pakistan.

“The first Test victory, over Pakistan, was an amazing feeling, but when you look back now, it’s tainted a little bit. It was around the time of Saleem Malik and all the match-fixing allegations.”

And, he remembers Sri Lanka, too.

“We played a Test in Colombo, and Sri Lanka were 130 for 5, chasing 330 on a turning wicket. Aravinda de Silva was still in, and [Arjuna] Ranatunga came out with a runner, which was annoying to say the least,” says Houghton.

“On top of that, when he stood at square leg he was leaning on the umpire, KT Francis’ shoulder, which really did annoy us a lot. Over the next day, we reckoned we got these guys out comfortably 15 times – and not just bog-standard lbw standing in front of the stumps, but caught at slip, caught at gully. The players wanted to walk off before the end, but as coach I encouraged them to stay on.

“They wanted to boycott the post-match presentation. The match referee, Raman Subba Row, said, ‘No, it’ll be an international incident.’ We went into their dressing room to shake their hands and none of them could look up at us.”

The Proteas annoyed him.

“The thing that annoyed me at the time was, we were not getting Test matches against South Africa, who were our neighbours. I played one game against them, in 1995,” said Houghton.

“I’m very much an African. Heading out into the bush in my flip-flops and going for a spot of fishing on the river: that’s Africa to me.

“I’d always wanted Zimbabwe Cricket to have an academy, but there were never enough funds. Watching what Ian Botham had done over the years, I thought: why don’t I do that and see what happens? So I did the walk, from Bulawayo to Harare, and we raised the money to build the academy. Then a few years ago Mark Vermeulen torched it and they never put it properly back together again. If I do get back to Zimbabwe, that would be one of my priorities.”

ZIM RECORD IN 99 TESTS

· 11 wins for Zimbabwe in 99 Tests. They have more wins than India and New Zealand had after 99 Tests. India had 10 wins while New Zealand had just seven.

· 2001 – Zimbabwe’s best year in Test cricket. They won four matches that year and lost as many. The wins in 2001 constitute 36.36% of their total wins in Test matches. They won three games against Bangladesh and one against India.

· 82.5 percentage of Tests Zimbabwe have lost since the start of 2002 (33 out of 40). Till the end of 2001, they had lost only 29 out of 59 (49%). Their draw percentage till 2001 was a healthy 39%, but since 2002 it has dropped to 7.5%.

· Six wins gainst Bangladesh, out of the 11 Tests Zimbabwe have won. Their next best record is against Pakistan – three wins – followed by two against India.

· Eight Test wins for Zimbabwe in Harare, out of the 32 Tests they have played there. This has been their best ground by far; they have not won more than one Test at any other venue.

· 17 – Zimbabwe’s win percentage at home. Out of 54 matches, they have won nine and lost 29. In 45 away Tests, though, they have won only two and lost 33. The last away Test that Zimbabwe won was way back in 2001 versus Bangladesh.

· 4794 Test runs for Andy Flower. He is Zimbabwe’s most prolific run-scorer and has by far the best average among all Zimbabwe cricketers. The next highest aggregate is 3457, by his brother Grant Flower. Grant, though, has won the most man-of-the-match awards in Tests for Zimbabwe, along with Brendon Taylor – both have won two each.

· 216 – Number of wickets for Heath Streak. He is the only Zimbabwe bowler to take more than 100 Test wickets. The next best is Ray Price with 80. Streak is also Zimbabwe’s most successful captain, with four wins and 11 defeats – a win loss ratio of 0.363.

· 68 percentage of Zimbabwe’s Tests that Grant Flower played in – 67 out of 99. It is the highest percentage of a team’s total matches that any player has played.

· 13 – Instances of Zimbabwe not winning a single Test in a calendar year, out of the 19 years in which they have played at least one Test. Even though they played their first Test in 1992, there was a period between 2006 and 2010 when they didn’t play a single Test. – Sports Reporter/Cricinfo

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