da pinup bet： For Zimbabwe’s cricket team, Christmas was fun whilst it lasted
Charlie Austin26-Dec-2001For Zimbabwe’s cricket team, Christmas was fun whilst it lasted. Thefamilies came and lunch was sumptuous, but the festivities are officiallyover. As they limber up for a daunting three-Test series with Sri Lankastarting Thursday, hard choices have been made.The first was made on Christmas Eve by skipper Brian Murphy. Out of sortswith the ball after a long lay-off with a finger injury, Murphy has takenthe bold decision of dropping himself for the first Test match.Murphy said, honestly: “I have hardly bowled during the last six wickets andI am not bowling well. I didn’t want to let the team down, so I decided todrop myself.”For those Southern Africans instilled with the frontier mentality, thestubborn “look’em in the eye and never-turn your back” school of combat,this may seem like pure cowardice.But it was a sensible decision. A wayward leg-spinner is the last thing youneed in Sri Lanka. Had he played he would have jeopardised the thrifty plansof a pragmatic team.Zimbabwe realise they have limited resources. They don’t pretend to besuperstars and see no option but to adopt the tactics most suited to theirstrengths, namely self-discipline and hard work.Expect limpet-like batting and defensive bowling during the series. It won’tbe pretty, but then the Zimbabwe’s cricketers don’t pretend to beentertainers: they are professional sportsman with a job to do.Stuart Carlisle, who once again takes over the captaincy, said: “It is goingto be really tough against Sri Lanka and we are not expecting to win theseries three-nil. We want to be realistic with our goals and try to get oneor two draws and hopefully a bonus win.”He added: “We have got to play Murali well. He is the key and always hasbeen the key. We have our gameplans but we also don’t want to over-analayseand get psyched out.”With the ball, we will attack early on with Heath Streak and Travis Friendbut, generally, we’re looking to apply pressure by bowling one side of thewicket. It was a good ploy against India, who eventually became impatient,and should help us build-up pressure here.”He hopes Murphy can quickly regain his confidence: “Brian (Murphy) hasn’t been bowling well and it was a tough decision for him to take. Lets hope he gains some confidence over the next six days and can come back for the final two Tests.”But the absence of a specialist spinner leaves them with an unbalancedattack on a Sinhalese Sports Club pitch that is drier than expected.Although there could be overnight sweating after the evening thunderstormjust breaking, the pitch looks tailor-made for spin.Zimbabwe, however, will be playing four seamers: Streak and Friend with thenew ball, followed by Henry Olonga and medium pacer Gary Brent later on. Theonly variation will be provided by the part-time left-arm orthodox of GrantFlower and off-spin of Trevor Gripper.Hamilton Masakadza, 18, returns to the Test team after school exams and willopen with the in-form Gripper. Carlisle will bat one down, followed by theFlower brothers, Craig Wishart and left-hander Gavin Rennie.Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore has no problems with Zimbabwe’s dourintentions: “We expect them to fall back on defensive tactics when they arenot taking wickets. We saw that when we toured Zimbabwe. That is part ofTest cricket and we have to deal with that.”He is more concerned that the team focuses on making success a habit beforea tough year overseas: “We are now starting to play the kind of Test matchcricket that we have been threatening to do for a while. But in order tomake it habitual, we have to keep performing in this manner.”Just because we have been doing well, doesn’t mean it will automaticallyhappen. The players must realise that it is not their god given right toperform when they get on the field – they have to work very hard to beconsistently successfully.”Sri Lanka’s selectors had earlier indicated a preference for playing threefast bowlers but this is now unlikely according to captain SanathJayasuriya.”It looks a dry wicket at the moment, though we will have to check it againlater,” he said. “We have to play according to wicket and if it remains drywe will play just two fast bowlers.”Unusually, their will be a rest day in this Test on 30 December after a recent government decree that no sport be played during Full Moon (Poya) days.Sri Lanka (likely):Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, RusselArnold, Kumar Sangakkara, Hashan Tillakaratne, Thilan Samaraweera, MuttiahMuralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Niroshan BandaratillakeZimbabwe:Stuart Carlisle, Grant Flower, Andy Flower, Craig Wishart, Gavin Rennie,Hamilton Masakadza, Travis Friend, Henry Olonga, Heath Streak, TrevorGripper, Gary Brent