Tour of  West Indies 1999-00         Captain: Andy Flower

Zimbabwe’s tenth Test tour

First Test-playing tour of West Indies by Zimbabwe

    (March -April 2000)

Zimbabwe made its first tour of West Indies, leaving only Australia yet to meet them among the Test nations.  Zimbabwe were touring in the place of New Zealand who had a clash with another series at home. At the end of the Test matches, a tri-series was played including Pakistan, who then stayed on for their own Test series against West Indies.

Zimbabwe’s two-Test series became frustrating and disappointing, as the team got into strong positions but threw them away.  Set only 99 to win in Trinidad, Zimbabwe were shot out for 63.  At Kingston they were out for 102 (Courtney Walsh becoming the world's leading Test wicket-taker with 435), leaving West Indies only 75 to win and lost by ten wickets.  When on top, they could not sustain pressure on the home side. Zimbabwe lost all four one-day internationals, being unable to retain control because of batting collapses or poor bowling at the end of innings. 

The tour schedule was interrupted by a ten-day break, used for physical exercise and practice, when Flower and Johnson as well as players from the West Indies and Pakistan teams flew to Dhaka (Bangladesh) for an ICC World XI v Asia XI match.

The end of the tour brought the resignation of Dave Houghton as coach after nearly five years in post.

Other Zimbabwe tours

Previous tour

South Africa 1999

Next tour

England 2000

Next tour of West Indies

2012-13

Members of the Test tour party  (15)

Opening batsmen:  Grant Flower, Trevor Gripper.

Middle-order batsmen: Murray Goodwin, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Craig Wishart.

Wicket-keeper/batsman:  Andy Flower.

All-rounder:  Neil Johnson

Slow bowler: Brian Murphy.

Fast bowlers: Pommie Mbangwa, Andy Blignaut, Henry Olonga,  Mluleki Nkala, Bryan Strang, Heath Streak.

 

District Teams:

Logan Cup teams  

CFX -  Academy

Man -  Manicaland

Mat - Matabeleland

Msh  - Mashonaland

Mid -  Midlands

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(16 March 2000):

      26 yrs  6 months

Key to type:

RHB Right-handed bat

RM  Right arm medium-paced bowler

RFM  Right-arm fast medium

OB   Off break

WK  Wicket-keeper

Test Appearances made before the tour

Campbell 39,  A Flower 39,  GW Flower 38,  Streak 27, B Strang 19, Olonga 16,  Goodwin 15,  Mbangwa 11,  Wishart 11,  Johnson 9,  Carlisle 6,  Gripper 4,   Blignaut 0,   Murphy 0,  Nkala 0.

Tour Officials

Carl Rackeman was approached by David Houghton while he was doing TV commentaries in the 1999 home series against Australia, and was asked to become the bowling coach.

Selectors

Andy Pycroft  (convenor of selectors),  Ali Shah  and three other selectors.

Selection

Unavailable:  Adam Huckle (retired),  Paul Strang (wrist injury),  Guy Whittall (knee); it was hoped that Whittall would be fit enough to fly out in time for the Second Test.

Tour Party Announced :  28 February 2000.

Not selected :   

For the ODI series : Gary Brent, Guy Whittall (subject to fitness), Dirk Viljoen would join the tour party.

In building for the future, Tatenda Taibu was also selected for the ODI series to gain the exposure and experience of overseas touring.

Time between selection announcement and departure from Zimbabwe  

          1 day

(28 February  -  29 February)

Travel

Harare  Q  London  Q Grenada

Left Harare at night on Tuesday 29 February 2000.  Touched down at the Point Salines Airport, St George's, Grenada, on Wednesday 1 March.

Neil Johnson and Andy Flower flew to Bangladesh for 5 days in mid-tour to represent the ICC World X1.

Time spent in West Indies

   53 days

(1 March -  April)

Reinforcements

Gary Brent, Guy Whittall and Dirk Viljoen travelled to the West Indies for the ODI's only, while three players from the initial squad returned to Zimbabwe.  Tatenda Taibu also joined the touring party and played in one match against the Select XI in Grenada.

Fixtures/Results

§  ODI  Cable & Wireless International Series

ϯ not first-class

.

Time spent in West Indies before First Test: 

15 days

(1 March - 16 March)

Test appearances on tour

2  -  Campbell,  Carlisle,  A Flower,  GW Flower,  Goodwin,  Gripper,  Johnson,  Murphy,  Olonga,  Streak.

1  -  Mbangwa,  Strang

0  -  Blignaut,  Nkala,  Wishart.

Match appearances

Highlights

•   Andy Flower scored 113 not out in seven hours to gain a first innings lead in the First Test in Trinidad

•   Heath Streak took nine wickets in the first Test (4-45 and 5-27)

•   Murray Goodwin scored a century (also 113) in the second Test match.

Tour Summary

Return to Zimbabwe

BarbadosQ LondonQJohannesburgQ Harare

Gripper, Mbangwa and Strang returned home early after the Test matches.

Last match 23 April. 

"Prior to departure for home at the end of the tour a number of senior players decided we could no longer work with David Houghton and felt it was time for a change... after being in charge for five years we thought that the relationship between the team and the coach had run its course. Houghton handed in his resignation." 'Blood, Sweat and Treason'  Henry Olonga (2010, Vision Sports Publishing).

From Grenada the team went to Barbados for 24 hours on the way home, returning via London. 

Because British Airways postponed their regular flight from London to Harare due to a political crisis in Zimbabwe, the tourists had to return home via Johannesburg. After only three days they flew back to England on Sunday to commence another 3-month tour.

Some players chose to remain in England for the 2000 tour rather than fly to Johannesburg.

Time away from Zimbabwe

     x  days  

(29 February  to 26? April)

Finances

In London on the way home, the tourists hired a lawyer, the former Derbyshire cricketer Tim O'Gorman, to demand a large pay increase.  The Zimbabwe Cricket Union hastily offered the players an immediate 20 percent rise to save the forthcoming Test at Lord's from a threatened boycott. But negotiations with the players' representative, Andy Whittall, who was not picked for the West Indies and England tours, continued. 

Account of the tour

Postscript

ZCU Chief Executive Dave Ellman-Brown was disappointed that some team members had not been playing according to their ability on their maiden tour of the Caribbean.  Andy Flower thought some were “a little off in quality”; but Ellman disagreed on quality as they had won victories in the past. He said Zimbabwe needed to introduce younger players like Nkala, Taibu and Viljoen to increase the level of competition.

Dave Houghton asked to be released from his contract, which would expire in August 2000, at the end of the tour and selector Andy Pycroft stepped in as caretaker coach. In England he made a difference to the team performance, especially in ODIs if not to the team’s results in Test matches.