The Sunday Mail
We are sorry for delivering a horrible Christmas present and we are determined to put smiles on your faces, says national cricket team captain Graeme Cremer.
This follows the Chevrons’ Boxing Day bashing at the hands of South Africa in a historic four-day day-night test in Port Elizabeth.
The match lasted two days.
“We know we disappointed and broke the hearts of our fans, we didn’t do well and we are sorry for that,” Cremer told The Sunday Mail.
However, with the Boxing Day Test done, Cremer believes it is more important for the nation to rally towards the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers, a trip that will go via Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.
Zimbabwe is expected to host the 10-team 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers from March 2 to March 25 after tours to Bangladesh, where they depart to this Tuesday, for a Tri-series featuring the hosts and Sri Lanka from January 15-27.
From there, Zimbabwe will then play Afghanistan in five ODIs and two T20 in UAE from February 5-19, before returning home for the qualifiers.
“These games are pretty important ahead of the qualifiers and playing the qualifiers at home is an advantage as we will have the home crowd backing us.
“After what happened in South Africa, they deserve something to smile about and that’s what the boys are so eager to do,” said the 31-year-old leg spinner.
For cricket-loving Zimbabweans to produce those smiles, Cremer and his boys should finish in the top two to book a ticket to the next cricket World Cup in the UK.
“We have got a balanced ODI team and this is definitely an important period for us.
“I am pretty confident with our One Day squad and with the addition of BT (Brendan Taylor) and Jarvie (Karl Jarvis), our team looks good,” he said.
Zimbabwe last played an ODI on July 10 2017 when they beat Sri Lanka by three wickets to record a 3-2 series victory, a first against the Asians.
That series triumph followed a decent run of match practice that included tours away to Scotland and the Netherlands.
The leg spinner has challenged the senior players to show their class and lead by example.
“Definitely the top five or six guys are the core of the team and all senior guys are equally important and it’s true they are expected to perform for the team.
“We have got some exciting younger guys, but they should learn from the seniors and hopefully that’s something we will see in the coming days leading up to the World Cup qualifiers,” said Cremer.
Meanwhile, the national ODI side has seen the addition of three young players in 20-year-old leg spinner Brandon Mavuta, his former U19 team mate and wicketkeeper batsman Ryan Murray and pace bowler Blessing Muzarabani who debuted in the Boxing Day four-day Test in South Africa.
The trio are all part of the Rising Stars Academy.
