The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema and Brighton Zhawi
THE men arrived in October 2017 but the hour was yet to come.
That long awaited hour comes this morning when Zimbabwe get their ICC Cricket World Cup qualification campaign off with a clash against Nepal at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
And the men that Zimbabwe Cricket brought back into the fold at a massive cost know that they need to deliver.
This why they came back: it is time for the Chevrons duo of Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis to earn their keep.
The two have not had the best of returns to international cricket with Taylor making a paltry 327 runs in nine innings since his return last October.
The 32-year-old does have a century (125) to his name, which came during the 157-run win over Afghanistan in February 2018.
Jarvis has toiled with the ball, taking just seven wickets in seven innings.
Both players refuse to read much into the statistics.
“There is always pressure when one prepares to play a game, but as a professional you learn to harness that pressure and channel it into the task at hand,” said former skipper Taylor.
“We are in a good space right now mentally and have been putting in the work so as to be in top shape when the qualifiers begin.”
Though Zimbabwe went on to lose the series 1-4, Taylor reckons that his match-winning century against Afghanistan could be the start of the resurgence of his career.
“I think I put way too pressure on myself when I came back and as such things just didn’t go my way,” said the 32-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman.
“However, after the century, which was my first since the return, I calmed down a bit, started backing myself more and playing my game. It is something I hope to carry over into the qualifiers.”
Jarvis maintains it is too early to pass judgment.
“Yes, it’s been tough out there for me since I came back, but I am not looking much into my past performances,” said the seamer.
“I prefer to look forward to the task at hand, which in this case is the qualifiers. I feel pretty good about the work I have put in since the Afghanistan series, and can only get better.
“The fact that we have played a lot of games, with the tri-series in Bangladesh and the series against Afghanistan is a good thing. And to me that is the most important thing.”
Zimbabwe are odds-on favourites against Nepal but skipper Graeme Cremer is not taking anything for granted.
Cremer noted that the Queens Sports Club “looked greener than usual” but remains confident it will mean greener pastures for his team.
“The wicket is probably like that so that it holds for the duration of the tournament. However, we have played a lot and know what we have to do,” he said. “The qualifiers have been our talk since Bangladesh, we have moved on from what happened in Afghanistan, we have new guys that have come in and we are all ready to give our best.
“The guys are pumped up and quite close to each other and that’s what you want going into such an important tournament,” said the skipper.
