Zimbabwe seek to end underdog tag

AFP: Zimbabwe cricket coach Heath Streak said on Tuesday he wanted his players to play “winning cricket” when they meet South Africa in a one-off day-night Test next week.

“We’d rather lose trying to play a winning brand of cricket than just compete,” said Streak of a Test South Africa are expected to win comfortably.

“The main thing is belief and shaking off that underdog mentality we had,” he said in Paarl, the western Cape town where Zimbabwe begin a three-day warm-up match against a South African Invitation team on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe have played just ten Tests since they last met South Africa in Harare in August 2014, losing nine and drawing one.

“It’s well documented how little Test cricket we play,” said Streak. “I think for us it’s less about the type of cricket than about playing at international level.

“Whether it’s playing Tests or one-day internationals, it’s the gaps in between that are the biggest challenge for us.”

The contest with South Africa will be Zimbabwe’s first day-night Test and captain Graeme Cremer admitted: “We haven’t played with a pink ball and we haven’t played a lot under lights.”

Cremer said this week’s day-night match at Boland Park was a crucial part of his team’s preparation for the Test.

“We’ve had two sessions under lights to see how it (the pink ball) reacts,” said Cremer.

“At twilight, when it’s starting to get dark a little more seems to happen off the wicket.

“This warm-up game will give us a good idea of what to expect and there will be lots of discussion before the Test.”

Both Streak and Cremer are looking forward to playing in the first scheduled four-day Test in more than four decades.

“The so-called bigger teams will probably have to score a bit quicker and give the lesser teams more opportunities to take wickets. The game will move a lot quicker, I think,” said Cremer.

Streak said that with 98 overs a day instead of the usual 90, there would be plenty of time to achieve results. “With 98 overs a day, it makes it a four-and-a-half day Test and the twilight conditions will be more challenging for batters,” he said.

Cremer said Zimbabwe needed to play consistently well throughout a Test match and avoid the off periods that have cost them previous series.

“We tend to lose Test matches in a certain period, say in an afternoon or in one day of the Test match.

“But we’ve played a lot of good cricket. It’s usually been the first innings with the batting that we have struggled so we’re hoping to change that.”

South Africa welcome back top trio for Zimbabwe test

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander will all make long-awaited returns for South Africa at test level after being named in the 14-man squad for next week’s day-night, inaugural four-day contest against Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth.

It means South Africa are back to full strength for the first time in almost two years for the Dec 26-29 match at St George’s Park which serves as a warm-up for three home tests against India in January and a series against Australia straight after that.

De Villiers’ last test was against England in Pretoria in January 2016 after which he asked for time out from the long format of the game while Steyn has been recovering from a serious shoulder injury suffered against Australia at Perth just over a year ago.

Philander missed the 2-0 series win over Bangladesh in September and October following an injury on tour to England in mid-year.

Faf du Plessis, who initially looked uncertain with a back injury, will lead the side. Squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn.