The Sunday Mail
CHEVRONS head coach Heath Streak has pressed the “repeat” button, becoming the latest senior cricket official to warn national team players to shape up or ship out.
As he preps his squad to face Afghanistan in a five-match ODI series later this month, the 42-year old gaffer is showing signs of losing patience with his seniotr players.
Afghanistan are expected in Harare on February 13 and Streak wants to see his senior players leading from the front against the Asians.
“What I want to see from these guys is consistent performances, the guys using their talent and experience to full use. I want them to anchor the team’s innings and become the backbone of the team. I want the AB de Villiers and MS Dhoni kind of innings … I want my senior guys to give me more and lead the younger guys from the front,” he said.
Streak looks set to reward some lads who have been staking claims for senior team slots during the ongoing Zimbabwe A versus Afghanistan A series.
“I have been following the Zimbabwe A side’s tour against their counterparts from Afghanistan and am very disappointed that results did not go our way,” he said.
“But there have been positives. We picked the team with the sole purpose of giving the younger guys and less experienced players a platform to show us what they are capable of and I am glad to report that we did have some that really did well and stood out from the pact,” he said.
“Among the stand-out performers so far, during the Afghanistan A tour, are the likes of (Ryan) Burl, (Tarisai) Musakanda and Nathan Waller who either had a couple of good knocks or did well with the ball,” he said.
While Zimbabwe A have lost the series as they trail 3-0 with two games to go, there have been some positives.
Burl and Innocent Kaia are currently ranked second and third on the series’ top run scores’ board with 137 and 122 respectively. Nathan Waller is the leading wicket-taker, with six scalps.
Zimbabwe Cricket is expected to announce the final 16-man squad for the Afghanistan senior team’s visit when the A-sides wrap up their series.
