Zimbabwe tour of England

[andrew_nixon]

Zimbabwe are currently on tour in England.

The tour is almost certainly set to be hit by protests towards the Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, however, have said that they think the tour should go ahead.

Zimbabwe are set to play 2 Test matches and a ODI tournament involving South Africa. They are currently playing their first warm-up game against the British Universites side. I'll post the result as soon as it finishes tomorrow.

The Zimbabwe squad:-

Heath Streak
Tatenda Taibu
Grant Flower
Dion Ebrahim
Mark Vermeulen
Barney Rogers
Sean Ervine
Andy Blignaut
Mluleki Nkala
Stuart Carlisle
Raymond Price
Travis Friend
Vusimuzi Sibanda
Douglas Hondo

[andrew_nixon]

Darren Gough is doubtful for the first test against Zimbabwe after getting a slight hamstring injury in a National League game today.

[andrew_nixon]

Zimbabwe have won their first tour game against British Universities.

Result

British Universities 1st Innings: 146 all out (Hondo 5/26)
Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 376 all out (Flower 130)
British Universities 2nd Innings: 263 (Cowan 137)
Zimbabwe 2nd Innings: 37/0

Zimbabwe win by 10 wickets

i wonder who will win.... england

however england seems 2 b on a losing streak :P

[andrew_nixon]

Britain's foreign secratary has said that Zimbabwe's tour of England will NOT be cancelled despite many protests from Zimbabwe opposition groups and British politicians.

One person who is surprisingly behind the tour is British MP Peter Hain, who was one of the main figures of the Stop the Tour campaign in 1970, a succesful protest to stop the South African tour of that year, due to the arparteid regime at the time.

[sanjuk]

andy flowewr told in one of his interviews after retiring that zimbabwae will be thrased in the upcoming tour of england

[andrew_nixon]

Zimbabwe's second match on their tour of England finished in an exciting tie today as Kabir Ali took 2 wickets in the last 3 balls for Worcestershire.

Result

Worcestershire 1st Innings: 262 all out
Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 334 all out (Carlisle 157)
Worcestershire 2nd Innings: 247 all out
Zimbabwe 2nd Innings: 175 all out (Kabir Ali 5/48)

Match Tied.

[andrew_nixon]

The England squad for the first test against Zimbabwe has been announced today.

Nasser Hussain (captain)
James Anderson
Mark Butcher
Andy Flintoff
Ashley Giles
Steven Harmisson
Matthew Hoggard
Robert Key
James Kirtley
Anthony McGrath
Alec Stewart
Marcus Trescothick
Michael Vaughan

The only decisions to be made are as follows.

If Flintoff is still injured come Thursday, McGrath will play
Depending on the pitch either Giles or Kirtley will play

Anderson is defintely making his Test debut, McGrath and Kirtley will also make their debuts if they play. Anderson and Kirtley have both played ODIs.

[sanjuk]

Finally anthony mcgraw gets a break.

I hope England wins convincingly. They are an under-rated team.

[andrew_nixon]

Zimbabwe drew with Sussex today in their last warm up game before the 1st Test against England.

Result

Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 395 all out (Vermeulen 198)
Sussex 1st Innings: 179/4

Match drawn

[andrew_nixon]

The 1st Test has started!

Close Of Play Day One

England 1st Innings: 184/3

[barmyarmy]

Good to see Butcher get 50. Hope Vaughan's complete ineptitude is only temporary.

[andrew_nixon]

It was swinging a lot though, even from Zimabwe's inexperienced bowlers. I can't wait to see if England get the same conditions.

[andrew_nixon]

**UPDATE**

Close of play day 2

England 1st Innings: 472 all out (Butcher 137)
Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 48/1

Anthony McGrath scored 69 on debut
Ashley Giles got his first test 50
James Anderson got his first test wicket, on his debut.